The Full Moon tradition originated around three decades ago with a few eager backpackers throwing a party for a friend of theirs on a full moon night.
The ensuing party turned into an absolute blast so they decided to redo it the next year.
This started a roller coaster of parties being held every month. With them being held monthly, word started to spread and people would come specifically for the monthly parties.
These early parties were quite small, with mainly backpackers attending, drinking beer and smoking weed. With the 90’s drug culture pushing through with pills, the parties started to grow into uncontrollable numbers.
Soon the parties became so well known, travel websites would start to mark them as events worth attending. The new phenomenon which is the Thailand Full Moon Party attract many backpacker youngsters from all over the world with crowd number go in excess of 40,000.
You will see people from all over the world dressed in some crazy year long summer wear, basically having the best times of their lives for one massive night.
This event is something not to be missed, with similar events taking on the name at many of the tourist beaches in Thailand. To attend the original Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan Island you need to find yourself decent accommodation, Haad Rin is the place to find a booking.
Make sure you book well in advance if your planning on staying for a few days, or find some friends to crash with as you will most likely be kicking it the whole night long. Most resorts on the island do require a minimum of 3-5 nights during the full moon party period.
The Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan Thailand is one of the best partying events in all of world and is definitely worth adding to your list of things to do while here.
For those of you who can’t make it to the Full Moon Party, there is also the half-moon party and the quarter-moon party.
Top 5 Tips to survive a Full Moon Party in Thailand
- Carry a photocopy of your passport and leave the original at your hotel or hostel
- Leave all your valuables also somewhere secure, you don’t want to attract thieves with so many people around
- Wear cheap enclosed shoes, broken bottles and glass will ruin your night very quickly
- Keep your camera or phone attached to you at all times, remember losing it will not just be the loss financially, but also all your memories if your not using my tip for uploading to cloud storage
- Don’t accept drinks from stranger, seems straight forward but many travelers find themselves in bad places when they wake up after being drugged
Remember the Full Moon Party starts at dusk on the day of the events, and goes right through the night until the next afternoon so pace yourself so you survive and make the most of the once in a lifetime experience.