Everything You Need to Know About the Koh Phangan Full Moon Party in Thailand

Calling all the party people! Here are the dates for 2022 Full Moon Parties:

About the party

Along the shore of the beaches you will see stages geared up with DJs playing both international and local, they play all kinds of party music from pop, reggae, hip-hop, trance to techno and rock so every ear can enjoy the sounds of more than 12 bass boosted sound systems, the more you walk deeper down its beach the harder the bass will get hence, the wilder the party; you should paint yourself in the neon paint as a party tradition, you will also notice the Ultra-Violet light strips decorate everything and make the night so bright with its vibrant color. The full moon party starts really early at evening time, but don’t be fooled because you shouldn’t arrive until 9 or 10 pm if you want to stay up until the morning, by this time the party gets going with full body paint, glow in the dark everything, and fireworks spectaculars, the entrance fee to the beach is a 100 baht, in case you got tired of the party due to any circumstance; you can relax at any restaurant near the beach located in Haad Rin and imbued with delicious food and drinks.

This party is a highlight of every traveler’s trip to Thailand, no matter what you hear and read about it or how many videos you watch, it won’t match up to actually experiencing its full potential.

How to get there

Don’t you worry, we will take care of it and provide you with all the information you need as far as transportation goes.

Koh Phangan is 30 minutes away from Koh Samui and 3 and a half hours away from Surat Thani.

If you are in Bangkok:

There are daily flights to Surat Thani province from Bangkok. The flight is about 1 hour and 10 minutes, and then from there, you can buy a combined bus and boat ticket to Koh Phangan from the airport.

Or even better; book a 1-hour flight to Koh Samui then also buy a joint bus and boat tickets to Koh Phangan.

Another way you could get there is by bus, from Bangkok you can buy a joint ticket of both boat and bus directly to Koh Phangan, you will reach your destination the day after at noon. You could add a train trip, by buying a joint ticket of bus, train, and boat to Koh Phangan from Bangkok’s train station, you will be there the following day.

P.S: if you are going by train, please manage to book it at least 7 days prior, because trains are frequently fully booked, especially on holidays and weekends.

If you are in Phuket:

There are 3 flights a day to Koh Samui from Phuket and you can book one of them, but be aware that the schedules may vary depending on the season.

You could also travel by bus and boat via purchasing a joint ticket to Koh Phangan from Phuket.

If you are in Patong:

You could get a flight to Koh Samui, and then take a ferry or a speedboat to Haad Rin, which will take about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

You can take a minivan or bus to Surat Thani that will take about 4 hours and then get a transfer to a ferry port, it will take about 40 minutes and then get a ferry transportation to Koh Phangan which will take about 3 hours.

There are only two options to get to the destination of the party because there are no airports to be found on the island, you can only get there by water transportation, either speedboat or ferry, depends on your personal preferences and your schedule.

Ferries are a great choice, there are many ferries that operate between Koh Phangan’s Thong Sala Pier and Koh Samui, ferries are safe and provide comfort with large spaces, though it is not the quickest transportation method, the last time a boat takes off is at 16:30 from Bangrak Pier, from Nathon Pier at 19:00 and from Maenam Pier at 12:30, each trip takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

When you return you can take the first trip of the whole day that starts from Nathon Pier at about 07:00, this trip is one hour long, however, the 7:20 trip to the same exact location takes about 30 minutes, 11:00 to Maenam Pier takes about 20 minutes and 08:00 to Bangrak Pier takes about 30 minutes.

Interested in an exciting ferry trip? Check out our updated ferry schedule between the different islands and Koh Phangan. Book Now!

Speedboats are regularly on the run between Haad Rin and the Fisherman’s Village and return again for another trip. It costs way more than the ferry, however, the trip is really fast, it depends on the circumstances but it usually takes about 10 to 20 minutes.

This choice gives you more freedom to come and go whenever you want, however, most of the operators of the speedboats are not regulated, they are known to overcrowd the boats and the speedboats are not very safe, making this choice more dangerous.

Accommodation

You are maybe wondering about the place you will stay in, in order to get to the party fresh, ready, and on time. The party takes place in Haad Rin, Sunrise Beach to be exact, we would tell you to stay at Sunrise Beach since that’s the place where the party is going to happen but unfortunately in order to get a good night’s sleep and have a peaceful and quiet time to yourself you could sleep on Sunset Beach instead, which is only ten minutes away from Sunrise Beach and less loud, but if noise doesn’t bother you or you don’t mind some ear plugs; then you are welcome to stay at Sunrise Beach although it won’t hurt to take them if you will stay at Sunset Beach anyway.

Ban Tai is also a place where you can have a quieter...ish night, the area is near to Haad Rin, you can get there by taxi which will cost you 150 baht each time for a 15-minute drive, please keep in mind the location, from the perspective of how far away is it from the party destination when you are booking a room, because you might have to use a taxi for quite some time and taxis are really expensive.





Another idea is that you can stay on the island of Koh Samui as it is the nearest to the destination, and speedboats are coming and going all the time between Koh Samui and Koh Phangan and take from 20 to 30 minutes to get to Haad Rin, a lot of hotels will prepare for you to get picked up and dropped off at the pier.

P.S: you should get to the island 4 days early to the party to find a nicer and cheaper place to stay and we don’t recommend you booking online, as it is more expensive than it actually is.

Dangers!!

With such a wild party happening and so many people involved, things can get a bit out of control sometimes; so we have to be careful all the time and watch out for anything that could occur, taking precautionary acts will make you feel safer and less worried about any hazardous behavior.

The party is full of people consuming and partying under the use of alcohol which may result in a lot of accidents, and in such parties; they don’t take precautionary health and safety acts although, first aid stations can be seen on the beach, and there are a number of pharmacies in town.

Speedboats are far too overcrowded so you might want to take a life jacket and wear it just in case.

There are a lot of searches by the police for any illegal drugs, there are a number of police officers who go undercover and blend into the crowd for the hopes of finding any drug offences they could find, so don’t take a huge risk and get yourself and your friends in trouble, getting arrested for carrying illegal drugs doesn’t look like something someone wants to include in their itinerary.

Do not possess any valuable objects. As to be aware of pickpocketers, pickpocketing is very common in these kinds of parties, if you have to carry something with you keep an eye on it and put it in a place where you will definitely notice if someone tried to take it.

After the sunrise it is known to get pretty hot, so you might want to take sunscreen lotion, hats and other pieces of protective clothing from the sun.

Don’t be reckless and accept anything to eat, drink or take other items from complete strangers. Although this might seem really obvious yet there are a lot of people who keep making this mistake.

If the Full Moon Party occurred on the same day as a Buddhist holy day it will likely be happening on a later day.

Skip jump roping, as enticing it might seem for someone to tell you that they are going to put some gasoline on a rope and light it on fire and then play a game of jump rope with a bunch of drunk strangers that you are not sure about their jump roping skills sober, none the less their balance when they are drunk; it is definitely a recipe set up for disaster, the outcomes are risky and someone might end up burned LITERALLY!! This is probably not what you want to remember from a vacation you’ve had in Thailand, don’t be foolish and end up in the hospital.

This might sound weird but beware of Buckets! They are very dangerous, you see these people passed out on the beach well they are drunk from consuming buckets, what exactly are buckets? you might say; well we will tell you, it is exactly what it sounds like, it is a bucket that you might take to the beach as a kid, consists of a 300 ml bottle of liquor, some straws and M150 which is (Thai for Red Bull) but it is a special edition of Red Bull containing ephedrine which is a substance that contradicts the feeling someone gets from drinking alcohol and makes them feel more energetic which will help In consuming more alcohol resulting in a downward spiral of memories you don’t want to make, or what I mentioned earlier; (a super quick soon-to-be-over game of jump rope), and it also costs 200 baht which you can probably spend it in doing something fun or for transportation.

If you are partying with a group of friends take care of each other, if you are there by yourself then take care of your own health and watch out for people around you, just because it is a party on a beach doesn’t mean that you should let your guard down, things might get out of hand sometimes.

Don’t forget to have fun and get the party animal out of its shell!!