Welcome to paradise? Thailand's monthly Full Moon Party passes off in customary hedonistic style

[Boater]

The Full Moon Party has become a rite of passage for young Westerners travelling to Thailand - but these pictures reveal the event is not necessarily fun for everyone.

The photos were taken this week during the latest instalment of the monthly party on the island of Koh Phangan, which is attended nearly exclusively by tourists.

They show how travellers snap up buckets containing bottles of spirits as well as mixers for as little as 150 baht (£3) each.

After a day of eating and drinking on the heavenly beaches, the party really gets going when the sun sets and revellers don glowing face paint to create a striking scene.

But the end, when it comes, is much less pretty - each month, dozens of Westerners who have over-indulged in drink and drugs are treated in medical clinics.

Party time! Hundreds of Western travellers attended the full moon party in Koh Phangan in Thailand this week

Getting ready: Two young women shop for headgear at the start of the party

Welcome: Entry to the full moon party for curious tourists costs just 100 baht (£2)

Tradition: Koh Phangan has been one of Thailand's top tourist destinations since the founding of the full moon party in 1985

Hedonistic: Spirits and mixers are sold by the bucket for the equivalent of as little as £3

Discount: The availability of exceptionally cheap alcohol is one of the main draws for many Western students and young people

Sumptuous: A touch of class at the party is provided by the selection of cheap snacks cooked fresh on a beachside grill

Excitement: Two Japanese women dressed in exotic costumes soak up the late-night atmosphere at the monthly event

Atmospheric: The elaborate facepaint donned by some of the more imaginative partygoers provides a festive air

Foolish: One party trick is to set a skipping rope on fire and then jump over it without getting burned

Trippy: It is possible that revellers thought they were hallucinating when they saw surreal sights like this

Limbo! A man lights a cigarette off a burning log as he shows off his flexibility to the other tourists

Enthusiasm: Revellers marked themselves with logos showing just how excited they were to be attending the event

They'll never forget: Nathan Pinkus, from Sydney gets a moon tattooed on his finger as Lauren McCudden feeds him from a bucket of alcohol

Until we hit the ground and pass out: An overwhelmed reveller catches 40 winks towards the end of the party

Tired and emotional: Another exhausted partygoer, surrounded by empty bottles of beer, takes time out from the celebration

Passion: A couple snuggles as the sun rises above the revels at the monthly event on Koh Phangan

Chillaxing: The party became slightly less raucous with the onset of dawn but not everyone was ready for bed yet

He won't stop: This partygoer took to a water slide after the sun rose as he defied the advent of the dawn

Irrepressible: Scottish tourist Jamie Harris drinks from a bottle of beer even as he sits on the treatment table after injuring his foot

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2400894/Thailands-monthly-moon-party-passes-customary-hedonistic-style.html#ixzz2co4lle1Y

[AngThong]

Yee-haw. One day I'll maybe understand where the 'fun' is...

[pokerspiv]

Cue the moral panic about young adults having fun in 3....2....1

[MAGS75]

Cue the moral panic about young adults having fun in 3....2....1

fab

....cheers daily mail advertising this crazy party

[renaz]

No! I want to keep my rose coloured glasses on and pretend that it's just like Rainbow but on a beach. Dang it.

[sustento]

I'd never have guessed that this was an article from the sanctimonious xenophobic hypocritical Daily Mail...

[impulse]

Thank God we didn't have Youtube when I was in college.

[Tropicalevo]

Looks like an interesting night. Wish that I was 40 years younger

Edited August 24, 2013 by Tropicalevo

[hanno]

Great photos!

[evadgib]

Note the 'entrance fee' only appears in English!

[hanno]

Note the 'entrance fee' only appears in English!

I guess not too many Thais going to the FMP's.

[angiud]

Very good photographic report. Nice pics

[angiud]

Note the 'entrance fee' only appears in English!

I guess not too many Thais going to the FMP's.

Around 25 to 30%

[hanno]

Note the 'entrance fee' only appears in English!

I guess not too many Thais going to the FMP's.

Around 25 to 30%

Didn't know that and not obvious from the pictures.....

[eltel]

When did they start charging? If it wasn't for the Daily Mail story on the full moon party 17 years go. I would not be in Thailand now. But the party was different then

[Commander Tamson]

The OP and the Daily Mail are of course kidding! The report and published photos will only encourage more kids to come.. Be a bit careful and it looks great fun! Party from Sunset til Dawn on a tropical beach? Come on! You'd love it if only you were younger!

This will of course attract all the 'humbugs' reporting on the scams, the rapes, the spiked drinks, the drugs etc etc., but that happens everywhere (and we have heard it all before)

[angiud]

You can like or not, the FMP is fun for the greatest part of the tourists and the Thais.

It's 2 or 3 years Haad Rin community charge a ticket of 100 Baht to enter inside the Haad Rin village the night of the Party. Haad Rin Tourist Association says to use the money to improve the security of the party, the cleaning, CCTV, infrastructures, etc.

The FMP is safe as can be safe an happening of 30 to 50 thousand revelers. Accidents happen, sometimes due to fighting, sometimes bike accidents, ODs, but less than you can expect from a so big party and so small police control.

[Commander Tamson]

You can like or not, the FMP is fun for the greatest part of the tourists and the Thais.

It's 2 or 3 years Haad Rin community charge a ticket of 100 Baht to enter inside the Haad Rin village the night of the Party. Haad Rin Tourist Association says to use the money to improve the security of the party, the cleaning, CCTV, infrastructures, etc.

The FMP is safe as can be safe an happening of 30 to 50 thousand revelers. Accidents happen, sometimes due to fighting, sometimes bike accidents, ODs, but less than you can expect from a so big party and so small police control.

Exactly!

And the beach is immaculate again within a day of the parties. 100 baht is a pittance for that alone

[Crazy chef 1]

Party people enjoy it as long as you can! Yeah ! I just hope some of our honored TV members are still remembering their great party times when Elvis or the Beatles where new.

[dalpha]

Nice photos

[MantisMan]

I thought you were NOT obliged to pay an entrence fee?

What about the folks that come over that night from Samui?

The boats land right on the beach. No cover charge there, right?

[MantisMan]

When did they start charging? If it wasn't for the Daily Mail story on the full moon party 17 years go. I would not be in Thailand now. But the party was different then

20 years ago when I was there, it was buckets of drugs and bad music.

Now, buckets of booze and great music.

[pokerspiv]

If you like Acid House/Trance music I guess.