If you know even the basics of Thai tourism, then you very likely know about Full Moon parties. Essentially, monthly gatherings where a bunch of tourists consume a lot of substances and wreck a beach. I hadn’t had too much interest in one, but this is the story of how I ended up at a chilled-out version of the Full Moon party (something I admit is an experience worth having), and had one of the best weekends of my trip…
Breaking Point
Okay, so I needed a getaway.
My first week of school went well. I was really busy with lesson planning/teaching all day and tutoring after school, but it felt so good to be back to work and in a more fixed routine. I was moving from a really stagnant, tired energy into a much more busy one very fast. Fortunately, this past weekend was Buddhist lent, so I had a long weekend to recuperate.
I was tutoring all day on Saturday, but my friend Talisha messaged me about planning something for the long weekend. I felt a complete pull to get out of Songkhla and have a change of scenery because I had a lot stirred up where I was at. So I hopped in a van to Hat Yai (the neighboring city) and took a train to Thung Song, where Talisha lives.
It was completely spontaneous that we decided to go to Koh Phangan, originally we were thinking we might take a day trip to a local beach or waterfall, but… I think we both definitely needed something stronger. It’s been a strange situation here in Thailand for teachers with the schools closed. A lot of foreigners have gone home, and school has not been fully open since mid-March.
The journey to Koh Phangan wasn’t too bad from Thung Song. We found a bus that was going to Nakhon Si Thammarat province, and from there headed to Surat Thani and boarded a ferry to the island. All in all about 4 hours and change.
Since we had a leisurely morning in Thung Song that included a workout and homemade breakfast, we didn’t arrive to Koh Phangan until early evening. We were both starving by this point so we found food near the ferry-port. There was a market open, which had Indian food and falafel (two things that I crave constantly but don’t have access to much.) So we got the first falafel we saw, although there were other options, and it was so dry that I literally choked on it. (I was also eating it very fast.) We had samosas, too, which were amazing.
We took a Songtaew to our hostel on the other side of the island…the beach where the full moon parties happen.
Because of the COVID situation, all foreigners on the island have pretty much been there for at least three months. People were surprised to see us coming in as “tourists”, and a lot of the regular transportation modes weren’t running, so getting around was a bit of a challenge.
After a long day of travel, we passed out at the hostel, and made a plan to wake up at 7am to take full advantage of our day on the island…
And indeed we did!
First stop was Srithanu. A little nook on the top of Koh Phangan with lots of hippie/vegan shops, restaurants and cafes. Also home to the beautiful Zen beach.
We started off the day at a cafe that had fresh fruit, porridge and avocado toast, and headed to the beach, where we basically waded in the water, chatted, and people watched (there was a dude doing a very interesting Tai Chi routine in which he held the position of a potato for maybe 20 minutes).
I couldn’t help but noticing the amount of trash floating in the ocean on Zen beach. Of course, this can be attributed to the sheer amount of tourists that come to Koh Phangan for the purpose of partying. But this was one of the moments that I had a very clear local perspective of why people might have a negative perception of foreigners. Being a teacher and essentially a local, it was a bit frustrating to say the least. I was looking at loads of trash, but the beach has been tourist-free since mid-March. I couldn’t even imagine what its like when Full Moon parties are in full swing.
This perspective was necessary for me at this point in my journey and it made me much more aware of how I conduct myself and show respect in my community.
All else aside, Zen beach was really nice and peaceful. I loved the area around us, too.
After visiting the beach we decided to get Thai massages, and oh my god. They were so necessary, and we both agreed very painful. I would say the second most painful massage I’ve gotten (after the one from my latest blog post), but I felt so amazing afterwards.
We poked around some hippie shops, found a ton of good food, stopped at a little grocery market that was selling fresh fruit, and bought some raw banana bread and vegan energy balls, until we landed at the ultimate destination and one of the highlights of the day…
Eat.Co Koh Phangan!
Truly some of the best vegan eats I’ve had anywhere, ever. I could have definitely ordered a ton more food than I did, but it was also very filling. I got a mushroom vegan burger and Talisha had a Beyond Meat one, and we split both. She also got a chocolate freak shake, which had chunks of brownie in it and looked scrumptious.
PS: if you are at all interested in delicious vegan food in Thailand, you should check out her Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/talishasvegantravels/
Traveling with Talisha made me much more aware of the vegan (“jai”) options all around me in everyday Thailand, but coming to Koh Phangan was like vegan paradise…the food was so readily available.
Eat.Co also had a whole bunch of dessert options, but we were both too full to order any after the burgers. Once we left Srithanu we instantly regretted not getting something to go, but it’s just another excuse to get back to Koh Phangan (as if I need an excuse).
We were finished by about 2:30pm, and with plenty of day ahead of us we decided to explore a nearby waterfall. Because most of the songtaews and motorcycle taxis were not running, we were lucky enough to find a Thai family who gave us a ride in their pickup truck. We ended up paying about 100baht each, but the hike was worth it.
The waterfall was called Phaeng Waterfall, and it was one of several on a hike through the woods. It was steep and hot, but beautiful. I especially loved all of the bright blue and black butterflies that were hanging out along the trail.
The waterfalls were basically dried out, but we were sweating a lot and dying for some cool fresh-water to dip into. We ended up finding a beautiful viewpoint where we could see an entire coast of Koh Phangan. It was lovely. We hung out there for a while.
I dropped a flipflop between two big rocks by accident, and was too freaked out from seeing 127 hours to try and get it back. I had pretty much decided I’d walk the rest of the hike barefoot (I am a New Hampshire native afterall, it’d be pretty shameful if I couldn’t do that), but Talisha managed to fish out my shoe using a big stick. Fortunately she’s good at “Hook a Duck”.
On the way back we did find a semi-running waterfall. We dipped in the little pools to cool off and it was super refreshing.
At this point we’d had a lot of activity in the day, so we headed back to the main beach we were staying at. In lieu of a traditional Full Moon Party, our hostel was having a little beach party with beanbags and live acoustic music.
It was a very nice, relaxed vibe.
We visited a reggae bar called the Happy Bar, and hung out on the beach for a while.
When it got a little darker, they started to play techno. There was a main area right outside our hostel, and also a little booth type area where another DJ was playing more alternative EDM music, though no one was really dancing there, except for just me at one point.
I also managed to swim in the ocean wearing all my clothes (I had to, it was a full moon), and get ripped off by a little old Thai man offering Tarot readings…he seemed like a real wizard at the time, but he was just a con-artist with a head wrap.
In a normal situation, Full Moon parties go until at least sunrise. We were exhausted from a very full day of exploring, and you could hear the music very loud and clear from our room. The thought of falling asleep in a rave was mildly annoying, but we just figured we’d have a rave in our dreams. Luckily, this non-traditional party stopped around 11.
The next morning we caught the ferry to Surat Thani and the bus to Nakhon, where we parted ways. I spent all of Tuesday traveling back to Songkhla, but I was feeling qualitatively different than when I left a few days before.
For me, this short trip was a gratitude reset, which is something we need every once in a while. When I got back to my apartment, I felt so blessed to be in this beautiful country. Well, okay, that night I just felt exhausted and hungry, but the following day I was so filled up with joy.
Living and working in Thailand and visiting the islands is a totally different experience than coming in as a tourist. I’m grateful that I can do both. I’m grateful that I’ve made friends who are as down for spontaneous adventures as me, and who are also dedicated to bettering themselves and making the world a better place.
Like I said, this trip was a huge highlight for me, as well as a total reboot for my system. Sometimes to change our inner state, we just need to do something totally different externally!
Lunar Liv 