Full moon partying on Phangan

Koh Phangan is an Island off Koh Samui - smaller in size but making up for it in its die hard attitude to supply a good party at every turn. Known for the Full Moon party - but really, that has just spawned offspring parties for almost every weekday;
Halfmoon, black moon, shiva moon, pre parties and post parties.. they make it work.

The first night we stayed at some bungalows called Pungjik. They were really nice and simple .. run by a couple of stoner Thais who charge enough just to get by. They had a couple of cute kittens that we adopted quickly. Unfortunately the bungalows were super loud being roadside, so the next morning we had to check out and find some replacements that were beachside.

Desh was really disppointed because we had to move from budget into a very luxurious bungalow situated beachfront by a swimming pool. If you know Desh you know she loves to rough it ;)

Obviously with parties like the fullmoon that attract up to 30,000 people for one night of mayhem, come the massive supply and demand for drugs. We weren't surprised to find out that there is a new chief of police and he is cracking down hard, which is possibly giving the party a limited lifespan. Two days beforehand we were pulled over on the scooter and searched for contraband.. if caught you will instantly go to jail and pay a fine of up to 50,000baht. The main supply line comes from Samui, and the chief managed to catch two boats on the day shipping over 'supplies'. Our bartender at the resort was there in 1992 and said that it was a much different story. . He could walk into a phamacy and buy drugs as a pick n mix >> dipping his hand into a giant jar and pulling out multi coloured vitamins for their mystery effects.

The night of the party was fantastic - we found a very strange roadside bar that was doing a free BBQ if you bought drinks. So we saddled up and became buddies with the Irish, Americans, Thai, Finnish and a random Italian that got really really drunk and only spoke in Italian. . telling random stories and then exploding with laughter. The drinks poured strong with 50/50 mixes Vodka to juice.. and with that we were ready for the party!
The party itself was something I will never forget - thousands of people taking up a small strip of sand going absolutely crazy. Hundreds of guys were using the sea as a toilet with hundreds of swimmers blissfully swimming in their waste.
I'm pretty sure I witnessed a girl die as medics pounded on her chest in a sorry effort to kick start her abused body.
As the hours ticked by the people got crazier and crazier, passing out where they had been dancing, and leaving the beach strip looking like the landing of Gallipoli with the wounded and dead scattered from the shoreline up.

Without a doubt the craziest party I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing - and this is low season - high season attracts 3x the crowd.