Koh Pha Ngan packed with back to back parties

Business in Koh Pha Ngan has been booming with the biggest New Year’s Eve Countdown party in three years followed by the first Full Moon Party of 2023. Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the island to take part in the (nearly) all-night beach party last night.

The event was a success, though not quite as big and rowdy as a few in 2022, with 20,000 revellers gathering along Haad Rin Beach in the south of Pha Ngan for the party. There was a smattering of light rain a few times throughout the night, but combined with winds that picked up from last night through today, power outages plagued the southern tip of the island where the party takes place.

Partygoers erupted in cries of surprise as the power first flickered out briefly, then after a loud boom coming from the west side of the skinny tip of the island, much of the town was plunged into darkness. Many tourists hellbent on partying were undeterred and mobile phone flashlights and Bluetooth speakers quickly revived the revelry with beers, shots, and buckets flowing in the dark. A second explosion toward the centre of the island was heard and the island was once again darkened a half hour later.

By 11pm the power issues on Pha Ngan seemed to have been fixed and the party went on as normal. Today electricity has been shaky, with a few flickers this morning and an hours-long outage through the afternoon, likely to properly repair what was blown last night and jerry-rigged to get the huge crowd through the party for the night.

One noticeable change in last night’s Full Moon Party and the new year party was that the event was closed down around 5.30am, hours earlier than the traditional 8am official ending (though afterparties go through the day, often until dawn the next day). Many visitors complained that they were robbed of the experience of dancing through the sunrise on the beach. On New Year’s Eve, rumours spread that an incoming high tide was the cause of the early closure.

Though Pha Ngan previously had about 450 accommodation properties listed on TripAdvisor, the current group of around 200 hotels and hostels peaked at 99% occupancy over the past 10 days of partying. Full Moon Party tourists are expected to increase through the High Season in the next few months.

The adviser to the president of the Rin Beach Operators Club said that the normal surge of visitors that converge on the island for a few days for the Full Moon Party was supplemented by many long-stay guests who came before the new year and stayed through the holidays to enjoy the double party.