Full-Moon Party on Koh Phangan ends with disgusting scenes

[khunPer]

BTW, accoring to the legend, 1985 is the year the Full Moon Party at Koh Phangan began...

I reckon that's more of a Myth than a legend.

I lived on Koh Phangan and worked in Samui from 1978 until 1987.

In 1985 Koh Phangans population was just around three/four hundred people.

(You can go and check in the Civic Office). There was no pier, no roads (apart

from a couple of miles down towards Bantai), no cars (just one Jeep) ,

no electricity (apart from a few hours a day in Tongsala), no hospital, no police

station and for sure, no organised Full Moon Parties.

The only way to get down to Hadrin, which was just part of the jungle, was either

along the beach at low tide or a few hours hiking over the mountain. Much easier

was to get there from Samui by longtail boat.

What people believe to be the first organised "Full Moon Party" in 1985, was actually

just an improvised, one off gathering of a few "Hippies" at a deserted beach that was

easily accessible by long tail boat from Koh Samui, without police but a lot of drugs

present. - I was there!!!

That's exactly the well known legend, you are telling - no one mentioned "organized" - and the story also says that it was someone's birthday that full moon night, but nobody remember the name...

As you were there, perhaps you will shed more light to the tale..?

Even before 1985, people went to Hadrin from Samui to see the moon rise out of the water,

play guitar, getting drunk and stoned, sleeping on the beach and being bitten by sandflies

Although I been many times down in Hadrin back then, sometimes from Samui by boat,

sometimes walking from Tongsala down along the beach, I do remember Christmas 1977,

I went to Samui to celebrate my 21st birthday as here on Koh Phangan there was nothing.

No bars, no discos. The only place close to a "nightclub" was the Lamai Inn in Samui.

After spending most of the day in Samui eating Mushroom omelettes, mushroom noodles,

mushroom burgers and mushroom shakes, we decided to go over to Hadrin for the night

to have fun without the dreaded police around.

I remember this Thai girl, her nick name was "Frog" who came with us. Her parents owned

the restaurant and souvenir shop just by the pier in Nathon and organised the long tail boat

for us to go over to Hadrin to watch the full moon rise out of the water and celebrate X-mas

(and my birthday) with sex, drugs, music, sand flies and gonorrhoea

I reckon there must be quite a few guys remembering "The Frog", she was just so desperate

to marry a foreigner, any foreigner and has been quite a few times to Hadrin, so she might

be the right person to ask, when did the first organised and regular party started in Hadrin.

BTW - we did clear up the mess and took the bottles back again, just in case some people

assume, all parties have to end up with a pile of rubbish left over.

Many thanks JoeLing

- seems like that legend with the birthday party perhaps originate from the Full Moon at Christmas 1977...

PS: Regret I was not there (Samui/Phangan) at that time, I could have been a good hippie (I sure was), so much I missed and only discovered almost too late – however, better late, than never...

[rijit]

How wrong one can be . Some

great posts.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[SiSePuede419]

"What people believe to be the first organised "Full Moon Party" in 1985, was actually

just an improvised, one off gathering..."

Which *is* a FMP.

Just not a CAPITALISTIC "top-down" "party" organized by people who know nothing about organizing large "parties".

555

[ParadiseLost]

Many question the shortage of bins on the beach, as far as I recall there have been no bins at major public events for many years - as far back as the USA Olympics back in 1984? Bins provide the ideal place to conceal a bomb.

The entrance fee to Had Rin was approved with the specific aims of providing cleanup services, and a safe area for people to sleep it off. Most of the debris looks like plastic.

The party is not my scene, I never liked the music. Pity it didn't hang on to a Woodstock vibe - it would be just as popular: young people partying to real music, made by real players, of real instruments. Imagine that...

Nice there are no reports of rape, murder or violent assaults. We leave all that sort of stuff for the other island...

[rijit]

It was just a bit of cheap editorial journalism that, unfortunatly did its job.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[SiSePuede419]

It was just a bit of cheap editorial journalism that, unfortunatly did its job.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Not cheap journalism. It highlighted the "low consciousness" or lack of education of the so-called "educated" gap-year revelers.

Could have been the "Under-30 Digital Nomads" crowd, also.

They seem to have that White Trash consciousness, also

555

[papayasalad]

what about the methane leak in California? who pollute more?

[MickRobbo]

Laughable article.

Look at the garbage on "my" beach in a small village on the mainland. No Full Moon Parties, no tourists, but the beach looks very similar.

Garbage without end, tons of it plus tar/oil from some ships. Thai ships probably.

Take a look at our Wednsday market, our Walkinhg street, our Sunday market. Even after cleaning there is plenty of garbage left just like left and right of the sois, street and roads all over Thailand.

I collected hundreds of kilos of garbage from the beach and from the road just to be bemused by Thai onlookers.

Wake up Sam Adams.

Well stated, never seen a single soi in this country not 'littered' with garbage, just the way it is. Convince a man against his will, he's of the same opinion still. Try and change a Thais opinion on anything, let alone something as 'insignificant' as garbage - different set of values to current western beliefs (which have changed somewhat over the years). Oh my Thai wife sleeps beside me too I do have some insight.

Agreed

[mercman24]

you want to see the rubbish floating down the river every single day by my condo, thais just use the river as a floating rubbish dump, throw it in, someone else gets the crap downstream.

[kmj]

Thaivisa please stop bouncing very old news threads to the top just because someone adds a comment

[futsukayoi]

On 12/29/2015 at 6:50 AM, thaiduncankk said:

'Wealthy westerners'.

Most backpackers I have met live on a shoestring budget.

It is not just or even mainly backpackers.  A lot of the renters around us paying 300-400 a night for villas go across.

[Shawn0000]

On 12/29/2015 at 8:12 AM, JoeLing said:

Who in the right mind would even consider reading the Mirror?

The headlines look like they would be written by a Thai or Filipino.
The article reads like it has been written by a primary school kid.
The picture is stolen.
The whole story is just crap and badly researched.

BTW - in 1985 there was no Full Moon Parties on Koh Phangan,
in fact, there was no parties at all at that time.

 

The first full moon party was in 1983 at Paradise Bungalows. 

http://yourkohsamuivillas.com/full-moon-party-how-it-started/

 

And of course there were parties at the that time, you just weren't invited.

[LordHeeHee]

Wealthy westerners, at a full moon party?   Hmmm, nope, I don't think so.  How about young cheap charlie backpackers.

[samuijimmy]

12 minutes ago, LordHeeHee said:

Wealthy westerners, at a full moon party?   Hmmm, nope, I don't think so.  How about young cheap charlie backpackers.

 

Well you are wrong, I've meet people at all income levels who have been.

[khunPer]

On 8/30/2016 at 2:22 PM, LordHeeHee said:

Wealthy westerners, at a full moon party?   Hmmm, nope, I don't think so.  How about young cheap charlie backpackers.

Hmm, I've been there – and please, don't call me Cheap Charlie, and I'm also not backpacking – commuting over with speedboat five times last year, as it's such a cool party; and again several times so far this year...

[Doobiedoobiedoo]

Doesn't look out of the ordinary to me;  a little plastic on the beach is not really going to make a dent in saving the environment that's going to kill us all off and sustain anyway. 

 

By the way did the author of this article pull everyone's income tax reports for each individual that littered?  How do they know everyone was wealthy furthermore how do they know they were all westerners.   Haha ta-ta-ta thailand

[hgma]

This picture is old.....and the mess os cleaned up on a day or two.

Wanne have fun, ? don't judge to quickly

[Shawn0000]

6 minutes ago, hgma said:

This picture is old.....and the mess os cleaned up on a day or two.

Wanne have fun, ? don't judge to quickly

 

What will not be "cleaned up" is the dead coral reef that filled the bay 20 years ago before thousands of people decided they were privileged enough to dance, piss and throw their bottles on it

[Jools]

"Wealthy westerners"......while it's true that many of us live on a budget, it's also true that our incomes are considerable to a Thai person. My retirement income roughly equals that of my Thai doctor. Let that sink in.

[55Jay]

On 12/29/2015 at 8:33 AM, bangkokequity said:

Folks, you are untitled to your (xenophobic) opinions, but not your own facts.

This obscene mess is via Foreigners.

You can stuff that fact in your "Thai Bad, Foreigner Good" washing machine and let it run all day .. but the facts remain the same.

It is always a moment of laughter to stop by and read these postings with the realization of what vile vitriol I would have to wade through if this was from a Thai event.

Don't worry lads, you don't need to get your panties in a bunch, I only stopped by to see how this will eventually become the fault of Thai people and the Foreigners are helpless victims.

Foreigners go to beach party ... trash the whole place ... Blame Thai People ... Typical Thai Visa.

Speaking of trash ... please proceed with your postings, the day is young and I predict that by sundown, this forum will be in agreement that that mess on the beach, is the fault of Thai People.

Typical Foreigners.

I've just placed a hammer on the table in front of you with a warning that, should you pick it up and smash your finger with it, it's going to hurt like hell.  I leave the room.  You sit there, staring at the hammer, but you can't stand it, the suspense is killing you, so you pick up the hammer and smash your finger, and scream a string of expletives as you writhe in pain. 

 

2 weeks pass.  Your finger is healed but not the memory of it. 

 

I enter the room with a different color hammer this time, issue the same instructions then leave. 

 

What do you do?

[evadgib]

....don a pair of Boxing gloves?

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by evadgib

[JWalker222]

On December 29, 2015 at 6:10 AM, jacky54 said:

Locals will not mind, but it only gets picked up as it's worth money down the scrap yard

 

Been there. No garbage cans.  Perhaps a few hard to find bags. Samui has a garbage problem as well. Piles without containers....many days old. What do they expect tourists to do if there are no containers?

[PoorSucker]

As posters start to answer nine months old comments I think it's time to close this thread.