Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan
Full Moon Party,
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The Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan is one of the busiest, loudest and most exciting parties in the entire world. The enormous beach rave party is known to be attended by over 10,000 people per month (the party is held each month), which is astounding considering the entire island has only 8,000 residents. The all night Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan occurs in Haad Rin and is on the night of every full moon (as the calendar shows).
The Full Moon Party And What To Expect
Full Moon Party Dates 2012
Christmas and New Year Special Dates
Main Full Moon Party Venues on Haad Rin
Full Moon Party - Start Time
When it ends
Getting to Haad Rin and Back
Top 10 things to know for a Full Moon Party
When to Go
The Full Moon Party And What To Expect
The Full Moon Party today is now a Global Dance Music Festival in its own right, with numbers reaching anything from 8,000 during the low season up to 20,000 during high season months. Even more during extra special dates (I was there to see in the new millennium with supposedly around 50,000 people, but I didn't see anyone counting).
With several well established venues along Haad Rin beach pumping out original and popular mixes in the most popular genres of dance music. As beaches in general offer very little in the way of acoustic properties, sound systems include large powerful walls of speakers which throw sound out towards the sea and reverberate through the dancers in front of them. Very effective and very loud!
A good club back home might have 3 or 4 areas with different music, with one main room. The Full Moon Party offers several DJ's rockin' their sets all at any one time. By simply walking along the beach you can pick and choose where and when you want to dance, there's no charge to attend the Full Moon Party and no cover-charges for the individual bars/clubs. Everyone gravitates to their own personal favourites and you can arrange to meet up at intervals through the event. The Drop In Club is a popular meeting place as it's centrally located on the beach plus its a popular bar with the ladies!
Full Moon Party Dates 2012
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* Note that dates can sometimes change by a day or two if they coincide with Buddhist holidays or government elections. | |
Christmas and New Year Full Moon Party Special Dates
If you thought the Full Moon Parties were big events, add the Christmas and New Year party atmosphere, multiply by 10 and you're getting close! | |
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The Main Full Moon Party Venues on Haad Rin Beach
We were going to list them in order of greatness but after an hour of discussion we still couldn't agree on the number one pick (mine is the Vinyl Club) so the list is from the South (the pointy end of the island) to the North of Haad Rin beach.
The Rock
If the Full Moon Party had a chill out room then it would be The Rock Bar. Right on the Southern end of Haad Rin Beach perched on a huge rock (see where they got the name). From here you have a perfect view up the beach and can drink, dance or chill to soulful funky tunes. They also serve some of the best cocktails on the beach, in case the buckets are not working for you.
Paradise Bungalows
Being the official home of the original Full Moon Party, the Paradise Bungalows are always a popular place. And well deserved, if there's a big name DJ playing on the night this is where they will be playing, alongside the hard progressive sounds of the ever popular resident DJ.
Drop In Club
Another favourite, the Drop In Club serves up more commercial sounds of chart music, R&B and dance to consistently large crowd. Upstairs also offers great views of the party while you catch your breath for the next set.
Zoom Bar
Not one of the largest bars but Zoom Bar is still extremely popular with it's psy-trance pumping out through the night and continues well into the next day.
Vinyl Club
Playing a slightly harder mix of trance and techno than it's neighbour the Zoom Bar, it's monster sound system draws dancers in like moths to a flame. Several podiums for those who want to show off their dancing skills (and unfortunately sometimes those who can't). When your dance fever kicks into overdrive the Vinyl Club is is the place you want to be.
The Cactus Bar
As one of the first bars you pass when arriving on Haad Rin Beach, Cactus Bar is always busy and with it's wide selection of music from RnB, old school classics, hip hop with an occasional bit of Rock thrown in for good measure. Making it a perfect staging ground to soak in the immensity of the Full Moon Party and decide where to dance first. Also very popular when the sun comes up as a meeting point for one last dance before heading back to your hotel or resort.
The Orchid Club
Drum and Base! As the only club on the beach specialising in this genre if you love the music you'll love The Orchid Club. With long time resident DJ and occasional guest Dj's whipping the crowds into a frenzy even if you're not a big fan it's great to watch some of the most energetic people on the beach do their thing. Wild!
Tommy Bar
Looking down the beach you'll see the neon florescent sculptures in front of Tommy Bar long before you hear the music. If you like psy-trance and and techno and enjoy space when you dance, this will be home from home for the next several hours. Slightly more edgy than the other trance bars on Haad Rin, Tommy's has some of the more unique partiers who dance to the beat only they can hear! Spacious and relaxing atmosphere where the only thing that matters is feeling the music.
Mellow Mountain
Mellow Mountain does what it says on the tin and describes perfectly the atmosphere and its location. At the far North of Haad Rin beach it's another haven to relax and catch your breath in a hammock or on the floor cushions. Famous for its milkshakes and soothing tunes you can regain your hearing, chat with friends and watch the party down below.
Full Moon Party - Start Time
There are pre-Full Moon Parties all over the island a day or two before, Haad Rin normally starts it's warm-up about 3 days before the Full moon itself. On the day of the actual party many choose to arrive between 8pm and 10pm, remember it lasts well into the next day so it's worthwhile to pace yourself!
When it Ends
The next morning at around 11am – but it mainly depends on your stamina and or consumption of alcohol. The famous Buckets containing either vodka or Sangsom (a local Thai whisky) mixed with Redbull are extremely delicious but are also quite intoxicating!
I'm a big fan of energy drinks but it should be understood that they provide an energy overdraft – which is a nice way to say the extra energy you use will have to be paid back (eventually). Take a look through our Full Moon Party galleries and you'll l see what I mean.
Because of this there is now a sleeping area cordoned off on the beach for people who just don't have the energy to get back to their bed.
When the party on Haad Rin starts to wind down, if you've still got energy in reserve then you'll want to head to the Backyard Bar (Starts around 11am and stays open longer than you'll need it to be).
Getting to Haad Rin and Back
Getting to the Full Moon Party couldn't be simpler, no matter where on the island you stay the resort staff will organise transport to Haad Rin. They can also arrange return transport but it's best to organise that yourself, finding transport from Haad Rin is not a problem no matter how early or late you decide to return.
If you decide to stay in Haad Rin itself then transport isn't a problem, however even with a great expansion of accommodation in Haad Rin almost all the resorts will only accept bookings that check in a few days before the Full Moon with a minimum length of stay. The reason for this is simple. The day before and the day of the Full Moon Haad Rin is swamped with visitors, room rates have been known to double and triple because of such high demand. See our Phangan Resort Guide on how to select the best place to stay on Koh Phangan.
Top 10 things to know for a successful Full Moon Party
- 3,000THB is often more than enough to see you through to the next day. It's recommended to take only 100THB and 500THB notes so you can split your money into different pockets to reduce loss at the bar. Also for some unknown reason vendors never have change for a 1000THB note.
- You should take a copy of your ID with you (not your original). It's Thai law that everyone has ID on them at all times.
- Don't be tempted to take a bag. If you can put it down, you can also forget it. Especially after several buckets! If you take a camera or phone keep it attached to you at all times.
- Shoes – always wear shoes! Everyone knows a party is not a party until someone breaks something. With thousands of people there always the risk of a broken bottle in the sand.
- Protect yourself from the sun. If you manage to make it to the morning the sun comes up fast and gets hot quickly. Have something to cover up or bring a small bottle of sun cream.
- If you are wearing the neon paint that's very popular, it's worth knowing that in the morning you will tan around the paint, leaving a light patch of the original design. Quite funny if it's not you!
- Re-hydrate yourself throughout the party. (It takes the body about 2 hours to feel thirsty when your de-hydrated, if you re-hydrate only when you feel thirsty you are two hours behind your body's needs). Alcohol doesn't count!
- Don't accept drinks from people you don't know, 9 times out of 10 it's probably not a problem but since drinks are cheap it's best not to take any chances.
- Unless you plan on not sleeping for the duration of the Full Moon Party you should not stay in Haad Rin. The music is loud and they won't turn it down for you!
- Keep away from Drugs - Thai laws are very strict and Police have zero tolerance no matter what anyone might tell you.
MOST importantly have fun, make friends and dance dance dance!
When to Go
With the Full Moon Party running all year round there's every opportunity to join the party. With Koh Phangan being in the Gulf of Thailand it's monsoon season runs from September to November. Although it's worth pointing out that monsoon season doesn't mean it rains all the time, it basically differentiates from the other seasons where it hardly rains at all. See our Phangan weather page for more information.
Rain or not the Full Moon Party continues at the same frantic pace, it's always warm and actually really refreshing, if you've not been to a Full Moon Party in the rain, you should! So regarding when the best time to go is, basically when you're coming to Thailand plan to go! Book ahead to get the place you want, get there a few days early at least and plan to leave a few days after (you'll need the rest).
Koh Phangan has loads more to offer besides the Full Moon Party, there's Half Moon Parties, Black Moon Parties and every other activity you can imagine from Elephant Trekking to Jungle Paintball, SCUBA Diving to Wake boarding. See our Phangan activities guide for more ideas before you plan your visit to Koh Phangan.
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