After the growing anticipation of the last few days, the full moon party finally arrived and didn't disappoint. Preparation for the event has been carefully considered by both locals and tourists alike. The visitors have been experimenting with various quantities of intoxicating beverage to perfect the fine balance of merriment and endurance, while the locals have been stocking up on the contraband that will allow them to do this. Throughout our travels we have picked up quite a few new acquaintances and are our current gang consists of around 15 members. Mostly Scandinavian (In fact id say around 75% of the Swedish population must be currently residing in Thailand) but the odd Canadian and Australian. As a collective we had been conjuring plans for the last few days and come the main event we were all well fed, had plenty of sleep and ready for the long night ahead. The party started around 8pm and I can still hear the noise from the beach now (Its currently 11:34am the following morning).
Id strategically sculpted a full moon moustache out of the recently sun bleached facial hair on my upper lip and Rory had painted himself with so much neon paint that I believe he is still suffering from the effects of radiation poisoning. Between us we looked like a dodgy 70's porn star and a evil character from a comic book that had just emerged from the toxic waste in sewers. By the time the whole gang had assembled, painted themselves with the scribbles of small children and crafted french looking moustaches, we all looked truly ridiculous. But we were certainly not alone, everybody who was crammed on the island had made a jolly good effort and it made for quite a sight.
The beach itself was completely rammed and it was difficult for us to stick together as a collective for any longer that around 2 seconds. People were dancing, singing and generally having a good time everywhere you looked. On the sand, in the sea, on tables & chairs and even in the trees on the edge of the shore. The downside to this mayhem was that I lost my flip-flops on around 12 occasions and seemed to spend the entire night tracking them down. After a while I discovered there seemed to be a general flip-flop exchange system in place where people would loose one shoe then just pick up the closest one they could find and continue on their way with a new pick'n'mix set. At one stage I had the lovely combination of a flip-flop with a slight heel and replica diamond strapping and on the other foot, a roman gladiator style sandal. Very fetching if I say so myself. Lucky, I ended up with a better set than I went in with so I've no real complaints.
The event was described by my companion Mr Mills as "Toooooo good" and I have to agree. I've never seen so many people, in such a confined space have so much fun. There was a really good atmosphere and if it wasn't for my commitment to at least 5 hours sleep a night, I would probably still be at the beach now. But its now all over for another month so I'm off to put Rory in the recovery position, visit the aftermath at the beach and get a black coffee. If you do happen to be in Thailand on the night of a full moon, Ko Pha Ngan is well worth the visit. Even if your a little too old for the party itself, watching the tomfoolery of others would provide equal entertainment.
P.s. I apologise for any grammatical or spelling errors in this post, my sleep was some what hindered by 5 hours of thumping Techno music.
