What the Full Moon Party is like: the beach, the music, the fire shows and the sunrise.
Once a month, on the full moon night, Haad Rin Beach on Koh Phangan turns into one huge open-air dance floor. What began in the 1980s as a small gathering of travellers is now a party for tens of thousands of people from all over the world. Its spirit is simple: music, friends, the sea and the moon, until sunrise. Read the history.
Bars along the beach open in the afternoon, and when it gets dark the whole shore lights up with neon, fluorescent paint and UV decorations. People paint each other with glowing body paint, and the sand fills with dancers from the water line to the bars.
There is no single stage: every bar along the beach has its own sound system and its own style. Trance and techno, EDM, house, drum and bass, reggae and hip hop all play at the same time, so you can walk along the beach and choose your party.
Fire dancers spin flaming poi on the sand, and the brave can try fire limbo and fire rope skipping. Between the dance floors there are street food stalls, drinks in buckets, massage and small shops.
The night ends with the sunrise over the sea. New friends, glowing paint on your skin and a story to tell for years: that is why the Full Moon Party has become a rite of passage for travellers in Thailand.
Every bar on the beach plays its own style: trance, techno, EDM, house, drum and bass, reggae, hip hop and more.
Fire shows, fire limbo and rope skipping, glowing body paint, street food, massage and the sunrise over the sea.
Updated:
Hotel pickup anywhere on Koh Samui, speedboat from Bangrak pier to Haad Rin and boats back every hour from 0:00 to 6:00. One way ฿890, round trip ฿1290, pay cash at the pier.