On any given day the beach looks like most any other Thailand beach. White sand, clear water, average people wearing bathing suits. But under the light of full moon the crescent shaped Had Rin beach and it’s inhabitants transform into a different animal altogether.
How The Legend Began
No one is quite sure exactly how or when things started but the most accepted legend of Ko Phangan’s world-famous Full Moon Party has it starting around 1987 as an impromptu going away party for a friend.
Must have been quite the event, that first gathering. Ever since then folks from around the world flock to Had Rin beach on Ko Phangan every full moon to “lose their mind”, as the party’s slogan goes. Roughly 8,000-30,000 revelers every full moon, depending on the season.
DJs and Day-Glo
The beach undergoes a drastic shift from an idyllic scene to a raging celebration. Huge speaker systems are erected up and down the sandy shore. Techno, house, trance, drum and bass, reggae… DJs spin symphonies of beats for the crowds that gather and groove in front of their turntables all evening long.
Everywhere I looked folks were dressed in standard rave uniform – day-glo body paint. Glow stick dancers made trails in the night sky while fire dancers stomped and spun blazing whips of fire. All the while the surf rushed in and out just a few meters away, the moon presiding over the festivities overhead.
At one point rain fell, the tail end of the monsoon season, but there was no breaking stride for anyone under the party’s spell.
Your Very Own Bucket of Booze
Concoctions. You won’t have to wander far to fetch yourself a strong brew of alcohol. Stationed between the various sound systems and shoddy wooden dance stages are small beach bars serving up buckets of booze. Yes, buckets. Point to one and the bartender immediately sets to cracking the seal of at least 5 different bottles of booze and pours them into the bucket. A couple of straws later and you’re set with your very own bucket of bliss complete with carrying handle.
And if you’re looking to lose your mind with psychedelics, listen for the whispers of Mushroom Mountain.
At a far end of the beach, perched halfway up a cliff and outlined with strings of neon lights, rests a bar serving up mushroom shakes. Outside the bar, near the base of the stone steps leading up to it, lay tripped out folks staring up at the moon while the surf reached up and swallowed their feet every few seconds.
When The Moon Meets The Dawn
To say things were surreal is an understatement.
When dawn finally came the sun rose on the ocean horizon. Dedicated revelers lumbered along the shore looking for lost flip-flops, friends who had passed out or tripped out, or just moving from one sound system to the next. The DJs kept spinning.
As I watched the sunrise with friends, a drum and bass MC spat rhymes in the background, we celebrated the fact we lasted the night. We’d given it our all. We had undergone the transformation that only the full moon can bring.
The Free Form of The Full Moon
Now, I’ve been to my share of raves and underground parties but the feeling here was something far more… free-form.
The “free-form” vibe came from the fact that this celebration didn’t belong to any one scene or click. In fact, many of the people couldn’t even speak the same language but, in truth, language wasn’t much of a factor. It was all about the groove of the event. Everyone is there to simply, well, celebrate being there…
There on a tropical island, on a white beach, under the light of a full moon, sound systems pounding out a tattoo… you can lose your mind.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooooohhhhh buckets. They are so good in the night, and so painful in the morning! Haven't been to a full moon party yet, but I think knowing you survived one, I might be able to make it through!!
I've been to plenty of parties in Thailand but have yet to experience the orginal Full Moon in Hat Rin, maybe the next one in January?
its an experience worth having. at least once. even with the bucket hangover. though, one scam i caught one bucket bartender running is this: they ask you to sign the guestbook and when you lean down, concentrating on writing, they swap your bucket with one from under the bar. watered down or something i imagine.
plan for it
though the idea of going in high-season is a bit daunting. crowds probably at max capacity. i went in november so had a bit more stumbling room along the shore.