While I was in Koh Samui, there were banners everywhere advertising the infamous" Full Moon Party". In fact when I was getting ready to go to Koh Samui, my friends kidded me.."going to the Full Moon Party?" and I said yes, going to the twins' Full moon, hahaha!!!! To me that is the Chinese grand celebration for babies reaching the full month which to them is the full moon, and I just had an ex-colleague who had twin girls and invited us to the full moon party!!!
Anyway here is a newspaper article in Malaysia New Sunday Times September 2010 titled
"Lured by booze, sex at island's full moon party"
Koh Phangan Island (Thailand)
Were it not for the waves of green clinking beer bottles, you'd think the hundreds of inert bodies strewn along the shore had washed up dead.
Behind them, many more youngsters are slumped,their heads between their knees, vomiting into the sand.
Then, there are the men urinating in the sea and an array of naked couples bobbing up and down in the water.
The sordid scene is lit by a beautiful full moon.
But then, this is the full moon party on the island here, the most renowned and revered experience on every backpacker's itinerary.Every month, 10,000 youngsters gather here and many of them are British middle-class school leavers for whom a trip to Thailand - and the rich cultural experience it has to offer - has become a rite of passage.
Well, that's what their parents would hope as they wave their off-spring off at the airport.
As the monthly event has grown, so too has the level of theft, violence and rape, western youngsters regularly die here from drunken accidents.
So, with all these dangers, what exactly is the lure of this beach to teenagers who are, after all, meant to be Britain's brightest?
Privately educated Mike Coe, 19,from Exeter says sheepishly: "I've come to Thailand for the party and a bit of culture of course, although there is none here" there is however plenty of what he and friend really want: sex and alcohol.
So what do their parents think? "They love the fact that I"m seeing the world. They don't realise what it's really like. Mum thinks I'm sitting around having a glass of wine and nice,healthy seafood dinner,: says Coe. The two blond, bare chested boys have in fact had a cheap curry, and are looking for girls. They have just drunk their first highly potent and ubiquitous "bucket" a container holding a terrifying cocktail of spirits. For if there is one thing this party is about, and it is certainly not Thai culture or the stunning beach setting--it is these vats of alcohol.
Legendary among attendees, they contain a 35 ml bottle of spirits sucj as vodka, whiskey, or local liqueur Samsong, along with a can of cola and a medicinal looking bottle of super strength Red Bull.
The concoction is mixed in a plastic bucket, from which people drink through straws.
Containing seven large shots, they costs from just 200 baht (21rm) (AT THAT TIME 2010) and are sold at more than 50 stalls along the beach, all of which have obscene names. Hard drugs, - illegal in Thailand, are also sold on the beach. Estasy tablets, 500 baht and :happy Shake" cocktails that contain a heavy dose of magic mushrooms also cost around that.
magic mushroom
or Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as psychedelic mushrooms
Amphetamines are sold at some of the pharmacies on the main street. After finishing her A levels Jess 20, from Windsor, worked for a local council to save for a gap year. "I came here for the party and it is brilliant. Mum didn't want me to come as things can be dangerous but I am not worried. By midnight, the beach is filled with thousands of revellers dancing in the sand, on wooden benches and specially erected stages. there are around 20 permanent pubs, hotels and restaurants on the beachfront. Each place belt out dance music at ear bleeding levels. The full moon parties were started in the 1980s by Sutti Kuasurkul, owner of the Rock Bar. Initially, he held a gathering as a send off for some Australians after a prolonged stay at the resort. It was such a success that they became a regular occurrence but they have developed beyond recognition, as has the resort. Sitting alone overlooking the messy bay, Sutti looks miserable when asked if he likes the parties. He turns his hand in an ambivalent gesture, it is clear he feels, as many locals do, that he can't complain because he lives off the money the parties bring in. "people fro Europe are not like us, They are out of control, they have sex on the beach and don't care who sees them. They are crazy"
With the burgeoning popularity of the parties comes further destruction to the resort, which now only attracts young drinkers rather than discerning holidaymakers.
(The above is the Malaysian edited version...read the full story here:)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315038/Is-THIS-teenager-gap-year-Graphic-dispatch-reveals-dangerous-reality.html
Leonardo Dicarpio made his famous movie "The Beach " here
All Beach Parties Banned on Surat Thani’s Islands , Except Full Moon Party on Phangan Island
Bye!!! I have done my gap year and I will be back in my black tie and suit sobered up and sitting in my office in the morning
or I'll be in the lecture hall taking down notes wearing a sheepish grin on my face.
