Koh Tao ban Full Moon parties

[PaPiPuPePo]

I like this idea a lot.

Let Koh Phangan be the ''Party Island'' and let's return Koh Tao to how it was a few years ago. Most of the locals there would prefer it for sure, both Thai and expat.

The island has always made enough money from the diving industry to keep everyone happy.

Koh Tao was always my favourite place in Thailand to chill out for a week but in recent years it has changed (not for the better).

Piss-heads and puff-heads can do what they do best on Koh Phangan.

My sentiments exactly. It's a most charming little island and I will look forward to my next visit even more if I've heard that the party scene has in fact died down.

[rijit]

There is only one full moon party and we know where that is.

You're right... Goa, India.

Yeah and its run by and attended by W aN ker s and the local resident's hate them.

And that is different than the one in Thailand how?

Is the Thai Full Moon Party where all the cool, hip people go, and the locals adore them all?

Guess I missed the memo.

nope tthat was my point from the little i've seen of the people/kids who go to the thai full moon parties are veiwed a bit like the pattaya walking street mob, the locals gratefully take their money but despise them cos they can c they are low life red neck w an ke rs.

[lovetotravel]

Must admit though out of all the places ive travelled to in thailand, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan take the pick as being the most violence i have witnessed. one tourist beaten up by a bunch of thai guys on a beach ( tourist smacked a thai guy siting on a chair first) and another incident in a 7 eleven, two tourists fighting and crashing though shelves. lots of blood on the ground after that one.

heck I was only there for 3 nights! Didnt think much of returning. I prefer peace and quiet.

I visited KPN 3-4 days after a full moon party. What a sad looking cast of characters leaving the island. I got tired of looking at men's pierced nipples. We rented a very nice bungalow on the beach only to find out they run a "FMP" every night of the week. Each bar up and down the beach taking their turn. Music on till the last drugged out guest goes home. I went to ask the staff at our hotel to please turn down the volume at about 4am. There were only 5-6 people there. His stare was completely blank. He was out of it.

When we woke up, beer bottles were right outside our door as was a used condom. I've been all over Thailand never felt so uncomfortable in one place before. Upon arrival, we had to deal with the baht bus mafia to get a ride. They are a ruthless group of people. Set us off right away. Better places to visit and I'll not be going back. But then they don't care, the locals are making a killing off these parties. Both legally and illegally.

[rickirs]

Why stop with banning Full Moon parties in this province? Why not just keep foreign tourists from all Thailand beaches? Then all crime at beaches ends and Thai people no longer offended by foreigners' nasty behaviors. Thais will be happy to take back their beaches for their own foreigner-free vacations as loss of jobs will give them plenty of free time.

[Braddockrd]

Well done. These parties further nothing but utter stupidity and are a gathering point for the most useless elements from abroad. They are the scourge of the islands and the sooner they are banned throughout the better the quality if tourism in Thailand will be

[crazykopite]

I can see these islands sinking if the Thai authorities start banning everything no visitors which are far and few these days will leave the islands with only coconuts to harvest and at 10 Baht per coconut on the open market life will become very hard

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

IMO banning is a Good move, run and attended by drug dealing drunken <deleted> thai and westerners must piss all the locals right off, short term it might hurt but in the long term ,,, good move, no doubt The parties are now a problem if there wasn't the parties there wouldn't be the problem or am i missing something ?

Everyone who has been to a full moon or half moon party knows what they are really about. Freely smoking weed, drinking happy mushroom drinks and liquor buckets. Getting it on with any girl intoxicated enough or high enough that she is not shy to get laid in front of the party revellers. Then they all are sheep to the slaughter to the scum that lay in wait. Keep the parties but get rid of the scum and drugs.

[umbanda]

Talking about crimes...sometimes you can red this statement "Was on the wrong place.. at the wrong time"....Well...if wrong places and wrong times can be avoided or controlled...probably crimes too....Public parties and festivals always are the ideal opportunity for trouble makers....

[lovelaos]

I can see these islands sinking if the Thai authorities start banning everything no visitors which are far and few these days will leave the islands with only coconuts to harvest and at 10 Baht per coconut on the open market life will become very hard

You're joking, right?

The potential for these islands is massive. If they cleared the islands of drugged up idiots spending 500 Baht a day, these islands could become a diving paradise. Do you have any idea how much income that would generate?

[Plutojames88]

I hope the Authorities are serious and just not appearing to be concerned for tourists.?

[ingvar]

Yes! ban the full moon parties. And then because someone might get injured; ban the jet-skies, diving activities, swimming, driving motorcycles, drinking alcohol, walking on the street.....

[wilcopops]

Sadly it seems that the local police - unaccustomed by both national and international scrutiny - are under considerable pressure and still appear to be suffering from headless chicken syndrome.

The result appears to be many and random press releases, and nape-of-the-neck decisions regarding "public safety".

I fear that all this will overshadow genuine investigation and an artificial solution to the crime may be substituted for real police work and legal procedure.

Edited September 19, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

I can see these islands sinking if the Thai authorities start banning everything no visitors which are far and few these days will leave the islands with only coconuts to harvest and at 10 Baht per coconut on the open market life will become very hard

You're joking, right?

The potential for these islands is massive. If they cleared the islands of drugged up idiots spending 500 Baht a day, these islands could become a diving paradise. Do you have any idea how much income that would generate?

Past experience of development of Thai islands is that once "discovered" by backpackers the big money move in and covers the place in concrete....can't see anywhere as a diving "paradise" - bit of an oxymoron anyway that, isn't it? just a load of drunks stomping on the coral instead of the sand?

Edited September 19, 2014 by wilcopops

[dom samui]

Good! Ban also cars and motorbikes because of accidents !

[thrilled]

The Full Moon Parties are a lot of fun.Maybe there needs to be some security.I do know that when some people party to hard they

Don't do very good.This was an isolated incident.Let the good times roll.

[Toscano]

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

Without the party , you wouldn't attract murderers and scum !

These parties appeal because of the drink , drugs and risks of danger , skinny dipping and sex on the beach .

It is totally wrong that tourist should come to Thailand and break all the Thai rules/laws .

Thailand is not Las Palmas Majorca , where you can drink all night and anything goes .

Most Thai women don't wear bikinis , wear long black Lycra shorts and vest top to match .

Police at a Full Moon Party would kill it completely , nobody would come .

Hotels and resorts need to make guests understand the rules of good behaviour in Thailand .

Thailand is NOT an international playground where anything goes , you have to respect the customs of the country .

[Nickymaster]

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

Without the party , you wouldn't attract murderers and scum !

These parties appeal because of the drink , drugs and risks of danger , skinny dipping and sex on the beach .

It is totally wrong that tourist should come to Thailand and break all the Thai rules/laws .

Thailand is not Las Palmas Majorca , where you can drink all night and anything goes .

Most Thai women don't wear bikinis , wear long black Lycra shorts and vest top to match .

Police at a Full Moon Party would kill it completely , nobody would come .

Hotels and resorts need to make guests understand the rules of good behaviour in Thailand .

Thailand is NOT an international playground where anything goes , you have to respect the customs of the country .

Thank you! Spot on!

[tbthailand]

While they are at it, maybe they can ban bikinis at the same time..

just ban rape and murder.

That'll fix it.

[ezzra]

This is the usual knee jerk, panicking mode reaction expected from clueless local officials

to cover their assess,

[waynethor]

Banning full moon party because someone got raped and killed on a beach at night is like the SRT banning Trains because someone got raped and killed on a train. Or banning Rubber tapping because someone was shot dead in a rubber plantation.

Stupid officials like to look like they are doing something. When all this country needs is uniform rule of law. Punishments that fight the crime. Unfortunately murder of unimportant people is often punished less severely than other crimes like Article 112 Lese Majeste.

I guess it's the easiest way to do things. Just remove all the activities where there's any potential for violence or other crime. Is much simpler than actually doing something to protect people. After all, Thailand is the amazing land of smiles, so tourists will flock here just to have someone give them a superficial smile. What could be better than a vacation that only offers temple visits and Thainess?

[minikev]

I can see these islands sinking if the Thai authorities start banning everything no visitors which are far and few these days will leave the islands with only coconuts to harvest and at 10 Baht per coconut on the open market life will become very hard

You're joking, right?

The potential for these islands is massive. If they cleared the islands of drugged up idiots spending 500 Baht a day, these islands could become a diving paradise. Do you have any idea how much income that would generate?

I think most of the people here think these islands popped up for their personal use a few years ago. The locals survived a long time before the 3rd generation hippies arrived.

They were beautiful places and are generally spoiled by us (tourists).

There is good in what General Prayuth is doing. Slowly but surely cleaning up. The popping into 7 11 wearing pretty much nothing should be controlled as it is Thai culture to cover up, It was a nicer place when the visitors conformed with local culture, I for one welcome it been that way again.

I am not connecting the dress code to the viscous murders of these two young tourists and I feel they did no wrong they were simply enjoying a holiday and were brutally murdered by one or probably more disgusting excuses for human beings. I feel the police are highly aware there is a very good chance they are looking for a pack of young Thai men and the blame in no way is with the foreign visitors.

They should at least have their eyes wide open to all possibilities and thoroughly check all evidence. The way they dismissed it could be a Thai in the beginning probably gave the real murderer / murderer's the time they needed to create alibis and destroy evidence.

Get a move on and catch them contrary to what the police think catching the people that really did this crime and dealing with them by real law would help restore confidence whatever nationality they turn out to be.

[alanrchase]

The parties arnt the problem, its the murderers and scum that attend..... police these places with uniformed police properly would be a better solution, not leave it to the local mafia

If its a tourist location then there needs to be a visible police presence to protect tourists... duh

So the police should keep an eye on what is basically illegal behaviour?

Arresting people would be out of order I suppose.

[Lozza]

Yes! ban the full moon parties. And then because someone might get injured; ban the jet-skies, diving activities, swimming, driving motorcycles, drinking alcohol, walking on the street..

Songkran

[monk213]

Party people gunna party, murderers gunna murder. They are opportunists and they will just go to a location where there are opportunities for what they desire, maybe Patong or Pattya. Taking away the party is a PR move obviously but it won't take away the murderers, for that there needs to be a real police force, not a bunch of clowns

[simondan]

'...and even police extortion.'

No way, not police extortion! Not in Thailand, surely!

[IamNoone88]

I'd like a safer Thailand. However, this will take many initiatives and over a period of time. Three murders in that area in two years is not safe - period. Neither is it particuarly safe in Phuket or Pattaya with crimes ranging from assaults/robbery to murder. There are bad elements on all sides of society and therein lies the problem - and the victims are quite often innocent people just on holiday. Banning parties is not the solution ….. and that is from some-one who would never attend.

[alanrchase]

Do not seem to be any posts from people that have been to one of these parties. Would think they are happy at the time that there is no police presence. Bit late to start blaming the police when things go horribly wrong.

[Nakajima]

Yea, sure they will. And Pattaya and Phuket are going to get the jet ski scams under control. Oh, and the police are going to really crack down on traffic offenders.

Look around you.

Positive changes have been occurring daily for about 8-9 months.

I see that: no freedom of speech, attitude adjustement sessions, human right abuse and just some few show off "crackdown" days to fool the feeble minds.

[CockneyGit]

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I can see these islands sinking if the Thai authorities start banning everything no visitors which are far and few these days will leave the islands with only coconuts to harvest and at 10 Baht per coconut on the open market life will become very hard

You're joking, right?

The potential for these islands is massive. If they cleared the islands of drugged up idiots spending 500 Baht a day, these islands could become a diving paradise. Do you have any idea how much income that would generate?

Have you any idea how much money Koh Tao generates through diving..?? It's millions and millions of Baht every month. 30+ dive schools and resorts, says it all.

Koh Tao does not need to be a ''party'' island, there's enough of them already.

[mojorison]

My dear Govenor, I hate to inform you, that the horse has bolted already!!

Koh Phangan is also under his jurisdiction, but here it appearently okay to continue the parties??

To much money at stake to expect more than a kneejerk reaction from Thai officials.

The FMP brings very little to the majority of the island. It serves a select few...ie the gangs that run it and sell all "the gear" hookers, drugs, and the general "dark side" elements. In general the FMP has retarded the development and progress on Phangan in an extreme fashion, (since about 2000 anyway). You only have to look at Hadrin to realise this. It is dead for 25 days a month...high AND low season, and only fires up for about 4 or 5 days at party time. The place is disgusting, and because they have designed their business around that market, that's how it will stay. Hadrin is the brunt of many jokes on Koh Phangan... outside of Hadrin we do a decent business all year round... and very little of it is attributed to the FMP... in fact quite the contrary. The Thais are funny though, because they will see 10-15000 people come in for 4 days to Hadrin they think its amazing... they are not very good at looking outside they box, and asking the simple question."what would business be like WITHOUT the party?" and the answer here IMHO, is a resounding "millions of times better".

But as I said before, the young farang only behave in a way that the Thais allow them to. The things they do here, would get you locked up for the night anywhere else on earth... but the Thais not only accept it, they encourage it... then they have the narrow-mindedness to judge the farang on their behaviour... rather than enforcing the laws and making sure they don't misbehave in the first place... like is done pretty well everywhere else.... on earth.