Full Moon Party

Finally, I got a chance to prove all my propaganda about Full Moon Party. After six months of verbal advertisement, it became an actual experience when the Smirnoff Ten arrived in Koh Phangan, Thailand; home of the original Full Moon Party. Everybody had seen how the Bangkokians party already, now it was the time to show them the island’s way.
Dark blue sea, fine white sand and the energising sunshine warmly welcomed everybody from a quick boat trip across the islands. The beach life seemed relaxing, calm and peaceful, but only Steph and Takashi who had already been to the Full Moon Party knew what kind of madness was disguised in the soothing tranquillity. The rest of the team was pretty much clueless of what lay ahead.
The team was booked into a nice resort on Haad Tian, about 10 minutes boat ride from Haad Riin where all the action would be. The narrow concrete road, haphazard motorcycle parking, the smell of barbecued seafood, neat displays of colourful ice buckets under white neon lights, shouting and yelling of different languages all brought back my old sweet memories of my straight six hour set. The organised chaos gradually built up as the dusk painted the sea glittering orange.
The beachfront, which was full of sunbathers, readers, swimmers, readers etc, was replaced by various fluorescent flags. Drink stalls were chained with neon lights connection. Sitting mats and short tables were laid out. Each bar started playing beats while the fire jugglers tried their best to attract people’s attention. Earth’s closest neighbor slowly glided through the cloud revealing her shining beauty.
Taxi boats of various capacities dropped people one after another, bringing fun seekers from every direction. Some were from Haad Tian, many sailed 20 minutes from longer beaches and thousands travelled from Koh Samui and Koh Tao, all hunting for that world famous monthly pleasure. The tireless energy was spreading over every sandy square metre.
I passionately placed my first vinyl on the deck at exactly midnight. At that moment, the Smirnoff Ten was all over the beach. Steph was dancing in a pop rock bar, Ben and Kareem were grooving to hip hop beats in another beach bar. Takashi was busy jumping to psy-trance, Audette was communicating to the speakers in a secret mountain party. And others were just strolling down the beach, absorbing the vibes. I carefully pushed the start button and Drum & Bass screamed out its first appearance of the night.
Usual beach life began; restaurants started to serve, backpackers were checking out, taxi cars snaked through the messy aftermath of Full Moon Party. The sun was high up, the colourful flags were gone, tables and mats were stored, stalls were removed and the music has stopped. The island cycle just passed its peak but some people just kept on going. Every party must have an end, some just last longer…