For those not familiar with the drill, (and this is Lamai, but it must be happening in Chaweng too) at midnight on the 31st, the entire beach is alight in aerial fireworks, and the big resorts shoot off gargantuan ones.

Everyone goes out on the beach with their store-bought armory and, since everyone's watches are slightly off, starts setting them off several minutes before midnight.

OK, not everyone goes out, but that's the point of this post -- if you want to experience something very cool, get out there!

Keep your eyes open as drinking and fireworks do mix, but aiming errors will occur ("Lamai, we have a problem") and you might need to hit the sand to avoid a "Jade Flower" going off in front of you....(I love it!).

And if you are on the south west side of Koh Phangan you get to see all the magnificent fireworks from one end of Samui to the other. Wonderful.

Even saw the Reggae Pub burn down years ago, the flames were so high we could see them from over here

And if you are on the south west side of Koh Phangan you get to see all the magnificent fireworks from one end of Samui to the other. Wonderful.

Even saw the Reggae Pub burn down years ago, the flames were so high we could see them from over here

Now THAT'S what I call FIRE-works !!

ha- was that on new year's eve then?

i am surprised more accidents don't happen. they often let off huge, illegal fireworks on thong nai pan. at parties sometimes they will pass out the kind you can hold in your hand and they shoot off into the sky more than once... one night the thai guys were aiming them at the burmese workers' heads...

For those not familiar with the drill, (and this is Lamai, but it must be happening in Chaweng too) at midnight on the 31st, the entire beach is alight in aerial fireworks, and the big resorts shoot off gargantuan ones.

Everyone goes out on the beach with their store-bought armory and, since everyone's watches are slightly off, starts setting them off several minutes before midnight.

OK, not everyone goes out, but that's the point of this post -- if you want to experience something very cool, get out there!

Keep your eyes open as drinking and fireworks do mix, but aiming errors will occur ("Lamai, we have a problem") and you might need to hit the sand to avoid a "Jade Flower" going off in front of you....(I love it!).

It's great fun and a good atmosphere but if you are going to be on the beach you have to be very, very careful. I was at Chaweng two years ago when some lads set off a mortar, the one with the ball which exlodes at about 100 feet. It fell sideways in the sand and launched the ball horizontally, it hit a bystander and fortunately just bounced off her causing minor burns and exploded a few seconds later. It was pure luck that there were no severe injuries. As you rightly say, keep your eyes open.

If it's adrenaline rushes you want, try the annual festival at Yenshui in Taiwan. A million or more baht goes up in bottle-rockets...er, well, not "up" exactly, but fired from "beehives" aimed at the crowds...people wear motorcycle helmets and old raincoats, jackets, gloves and anything else to cover up...you have to be careful of the neck area as a few have been injured by stray shots getting in under the bottom of the helmet.