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One of the best beach parties in the world is the full moon party on Ko Phangan in Thailand. I’ve been to it twice and it is simply amazing. Thousands of people, open air bars lining the beach blasting music and best of all, it’s super cheap.

You’ll want to reach Ko Phangan a couple of days prior to the party so that you can get a good place to stay. I don’t recommend staying right on the beach. I met way too many people with bloodshot eyes who hadn’t slept in days because the bars blast music till 5am every day. The best place to stay is on either side of Haad Rin (this is the beach where the party happens. This way you can easily get back to your bungalow if you need a break. We had a two bed bungalow looking over the entire beach and we paid $25/night – a princely sum in Thailand. At my first full moon party I stayed at a different beach for $5/night and boated in, which is fun, but there’s nothing like seeing the crowds swell on the day of the party from a high vantage point.

People start gathering around 2pm on Haad Rin and the party really gets going around 5pm. You can buy a sand pail filled with red bull, a mickey of Sang Sum (delicious local rum) and coke for $5. They’ll give you a dozen straws, but I’m sure you can handle a couple of these on your own. From there enjoy the night, watch the fire dancers, eat a ton and talk to everyone you meet. It always seems that the world shows up to the full moon party.

The party goes all the way to sunrise (Haad Rin stands for sunrise beach) so pace yourself. If you are staying on a distant beach I recommend taking a massage in the early morning as a refresher. It’ll cost you about $5-10 for an hour. When the sun comes up make sure you’re in a balcony on one of the bars so you can see everything. They don’t call it sunrise beach for nothing.

Final tips for the full moon party:

• Sleep in the day before.

• Make sure you have air conditioning, when you get back at noon the next day it’ll be hot and you’ll be tired.

• Don’t pass out on the beach. By the end of the night these people are covered in sand and while hilarious to look at, I’m sure being a human sand pyramid doesn’t feel good.

It truly is one of the best parties in the world with some of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet. Enjoy.