Full Moon PartyHigh Alert

German Tourist drowns at Full Moon Party Haadrin Beach on the Island of Koh Phangan


Koh Phangan Safety Fund 04
Koh Phangan Safety Fund

Well … Becki seems to be a bit late like usual but just after I posted the last article I went on a search in google and discovered the awful truth again!

A 27-year-old German tourist drowned May 2nd 2007 after attending the famed Full Moon Party at Hadrin Beach on the island of madness called Koh Phangan, police officials announced.

Maurice Pascal Kreuzer from Heidenburg was found dead early Wednesday, 2nd May 2007, on Haad Rin beach at Kho Pha-Ngan Island, police agents said. “He died around dawn after he went swimming while drunk,” lieutenant colonel Kosol Keankaew of the local marine police said.

The Full Moon Party attracts thousands of revellers every month for a night of drinking, drugs and dancing on Phangan island’s lush tropical beaches in the Gulf of Thailand.

So … it happened again like before in December 2005 when 2 Swedish girls drowned at the Full Moon Party Beach Hadrin. But wait … wasn’t there something setup after wards to prevent things like this happening again? Yes … the so called Phangan Safety Fund which was brought into life by the Backpackers Information Centre with the help of local representatives and international support to raise money to purchase lifesaving and medical equipment and provide volunteer lifeguards on Haad Rin Nok beach.

Well … is this Phangan Safety Fund still active? Where did our generous donations go?

Or was it just another media campaign to make you donate some money without actually improving anything?

Koh Phangan Safety Fund 01
Koh Phangan Safety Fund
Koh Phangan Safety Fund 03
Koh Phangan Safety Fund
Koh Phangan Safety Fund 02
Koh Phangan Safety Fund

What the heck … at least we got some nice signs – Beach Rescue Equipment Here! A lovely donation sponsored bright red kayak and an awesome lifeguard observation chair plus a few nice pics of shaking hands with some local island representatives.

Isn’t that progress enough?

Update August 2007

Last night Becki received a phone call from one of the no longer active Phangan Safety Fund members, asking me to update the article with proper facts. Here’s what Phangan Safety Fund has to say:

The incident regarding the German guy had nothing whatsoever to do with the Phangan Safety Fund nor life guarding scheme – he had drowned and was medically certified as having been in the water more than 4 hours – and his body had been brought in by the tides – this incident did not happen during any time the scheme was operating on Haadrin beach!

For your information, the Phangan Safety Fund was started by Backpackers Information Centre in association with Same-Same Guesthouse and a committee based in Sweden (set up due to the two Swedish girls drowning at Hadrin Beach Dec 2005). All the financial funding for the scheme was provided by a benefactor in Sweden from his personal funding (a school teacher of one of the Swedish girls who died) who set up a committee of six persons in Sweden who are required to approve spending to fund the scheme.

Backpackers Information Centre was purely acting as the interface to organize things locally. The bank account, with spending approval operated via Sweden has all funds accountable and access able for anyone wishing to view spending. Anyone wishing to do so can email Jan Eklow, the Swedish committee Director, direct via www.thailiv.se.

For your information, a meeting was held in June 2007 with the local government of Koh Phangan regarding the Phangan Safety Scheme transferring all operations and remaining funds to the local government as they wish to set up a similar scheme by themselves and as such make the Phangan Safety Fund redundant from all responsibilities and operations.

Backpackers Information Centre, Same-Same Guesthouse and The Phangan Safety Fund committee in Sweden has therefore ceased operating lifeguards and the Swedish Committee are in the process of transferring all equipment (boat, kayak, medical supplies, life guarding equipment etc.) and all remaining funds to help the local government set up their own operation. No further funding nor input to the new scheme will be provided by any of the parties involved in the Phangan Safety Fund.

Regarding your article and use of my Company name, photos and text – as I have not given permission from myself or the company to use any such information I would ask you to remove all references to my company immediately as this is illegal under both copyright and data infringement laws.

Regards Backpackers

So … here you got the official response from the Phangan Safety Fund regarding the drowning of a German Tourist after the Full Moon Party in May 2007. Phangan Safety Fund has also asked to remove all their references from the article but Koh Phangan Island News simply refuses to do so. Phangan Safety Fund was setup after the tragic death of the two Swedish girls who drowned at the Full Moon Party in Dec 2005, to simply help preventing that this will happen again. All information regarding the Phangan Safety Fund was made public via the Thailand Live Saving Fund and Backpackers Information Centre website to provide information to the public. Koh Phangan Island News has at no point provided false information or accused anyone of doing something wrong!

Koh Phangan Island News simply asks questions? And there still is a big difference between an accusation and a simple question!

Thanks for your attention and have a nice day.

21 thoughts on “German Tourist drowns at Full Moon Party Haadrin Beach on the Island of Koh Phangan

  • hey there,
    i just don’t think there were any lifeguard during the full moon before dawn.
    it was unfortunate..
    but i do know that they have the lifeguard in certain time.
    the equipments were there for someone to use in case of emergency.
    i believed the donations went for a worthwhile cause.
    God bless! Rest in peace’

    Reply
    • I haven’t seen the life guard stand up in 6 months. On the other hand I have seen signs up asking for volunteers to Life guard. I guess all the people that were interested left the island?
      It’s sad that someone drowned, but I don’t think it’s anyones job to baby sit people that are drunk and decide to go swimming. It’s a sad story, but people do foolish things when they are drunk.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      It is very sad news when you hear things like this, but I have to say, I read up on the Full Moon Party before I went, and the information is very explicit and straight to the point, so people know exactly what to expect. People who attend know exactly what they are getting themselves into, and its difficult for any police or lifeguards to stand watch over nearly 10,000 people. Unfortunately with an event like that you have to be responsible for yourself, and take necessary safety precautions, and look after number one. Tragedys do happen at events like this, and I think they always will with that many people getting drunk and doing drugs!

      Reply
  • hey there,
    i just don’t think there were any lifeguard during the full moon before dawn.
    it was unfortunate..
    but i do know that they have the lifeguard in certain time.
    the equipments were there for someone to use in case of emergency.
    i believed the donations went for a worthwhile cause.
    God bless! Rest in peace’

    Reply
    • I haven’t seen the life guard stand up in 6 months. On the other hand I have seen signs up asking for volunteers to Life guard. I guess all the people that were interested left the island?
      It’s sad that someone drowned, but I don’t think it’s anyones job to baby sit people that are drunk and decide to go swimming. It’s a sad story, but people do foolish things when they are drunk.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      It is very sad news when you hear things like this, but I have to say, I read up on the Full Moon Party before I went, and the information is very explicit and straight to the point, so people know exactly what to expect. People who attend know exactly what they are getting themselves into, and its difficult for any police or lifeguards to stand watch over nearly 10,000 people. Unfortunately with an event like that you have to be responsible for yourself, and take necessary safety precautions, and look after number one. Tragedys do happen at events like this, and I think they always will with that many people getting drunk and doing drugs!

      Reply
  • Hi there,
    I’m very sad and sorry for him,
    i was the first to see him into the water and i called my boyfried who took him with another guy and they brought him out from the water…nobody of the police or of the liveguard were there to check the beach and tell the people to go out from the water, because the see was quite moderate and people were drunk…i hoped all night long he was alived but the day after i asked to the lifeguard and they gave me bad news….i’m very sorry.. Good bless, Rest in Peace!

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      hello querido becki,

      please update your web more often(with no advertising!)

      thanks,thanks you so much becki from bringing some light to my existence and stopped me from getting myself into useless trouble with stupid buisness!

      next time you are allowed to use lethal force if it´s nescesary:)

      so,i decided to follow your advice and just enjoy existence:)

      i travelled all around phillipines,diving,treking,then i went to malaysia,then to lombok in indonesia ,bought a surfboard and try to recover my surfing skills.

      i used to be a surfer in my southamerican youth years!

      and i was really surprised of my high level!

      i think it was because of the acids!

      so now i´m in fucking buenos aires,fucking cold,last night it snowed for the first time in 100 years!!!!

      so you can imagine maradona went mad runnning by the streets:)!

      i will stay here for 3 weeks attending my $$$ responsabilities which allow to sponsor my shanti life,then i have a return ticket to asia via africa,so maybe i stop in mozambique and tanzania if i don´t get too tired of touring……….

      it´s a funny thing how different scenes,at the end are all the same……….

      in indonesia for the ¨surfing comunity¨,the brazilians are what the israelis are for the trance scene.

      and what the drunk people are for the party people,the japanese are for the surfing.

      hi how was the surfing today?

      ¨mmmmmmm…..ok,but too many japanese with there lonboards:)¨

      so i´m not very lucky,in argentina everybody thinks i´m an argentinian,in non muslim asia everybody think i´m an israeli, in indonesia everybody thinks i´m brazilian,and in brazil everybody thinks i´m argentinian,so i fucked up!:)

      of course this mail is personal,would like to have your e mail adress,and please tell the koh phangan branch of the reptilians illuminatti(you know who i mean) to start developing a wave machine at bankai beach so i can enjoy the surfing while in thailand.

      that is the development i want to see!!!!

      just please don´t bring the surfers!

      wish you a happy nice day

      say hi to mr isi and patrik

      mariano

      ps:very good the new seasons of lost and 24,though i mst admit i ´m starting to find 24 ¨a bit violent¨:)

      Reply
  • Hi there,
    I’m very sad and sorry for him,
    i was the first to see him into the water and i called my boyfried who took him with another guy and they brought him out from the water…nobody of the police or of the liveguard were there to check the beach and tell the people to go out from the water, because the see was quite moderate and people were drunk…i hoped all night long he was alived but the day after i asked to the lifeguard and they gave me bad news….i’m very sorry.. Good bless, Rest in Peace!

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      hello querido becki,

      please update your web more often(with no advertising!)

      thanks,thanks you so much becki from bringing some light to my existence and stopped me from getting myself into useless trouble with stupid buisness!

      next time you are allowed to use lethal force if it´s nescesary:)

      so,i decided to follow your advice and just enjoy existence:)

      i travelled all around phillipines,diving,treking,then i went to malaysia,then to lombok in indonesia ,bought a surfboard and try to recover my surfing skills.

      i used to be a surfer in my southamerican youth years!

      and i was really surprised of my high level!

      i think it was because of the acids!

      so now i´m in fucking buenos aires,fucking cold,last night it snowed for the first time in 100 years!!!!

      so you can imagine maradona went mad runnning by the streets:)!

      i will stay here for 3 weeks attending my $$$ responsabilities which allow to sponsor my shanti life,then i have a return ticket to asia via africa,so maybe i stop in mozambique and tanzania if i don´t get too tired of touring……….

      it´s a funny thing how different scenes,at the end are all the same……….

      in indonesia for the ¨surfing comunity¨,the brazilians are what the israelis are for the trance scene.

      and what the drunk people are for the party people,the japanese are for the surfing.

      hi how was the surfing today?

      ¨mmmmmmm…..ok,but too many japanese with there lonboards:)¨

      so i´m not very lucky,in argentina everybody thinks i´m an argentinian,in non muslim asia everybody think i´m an israeli, in indonesia everybody thinks i´m brazilian,and in brazil everybody thinks i´m argentinian,so i fucked up!:)

      of course this mail is personal,would like to have your e mail adress,and please tell the koh phangan branch of the reptilians illuminatti(you know who i mean) to start developing a wave machine at bankai beach so i can enjoy the surfing while in thailand.

      that is the development i want to see!!!!

      just please don´t bring the surfers!

      wish you a happy nice day

      say hi to mr isi and patrik

      mariano

      ps:very good the new seasons of lost and 24,though i mst admit i ´m starting to find 24 ¨a bit violent¨:)

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    From members of the PHANGAN SAFETY FUND – We accept that bringing information into the public domain is both democratic and acceptable, especially if the data exists on an existing website, however, it is respectful to be asked prior to print especially if the article is raising issues and accusations that have no substance and often done so just to create a reaction – nevertheless, as the said article has now been in the public domain for 3 months we are pleased that it was brought to our attention by a member of the public who found it offensive and disrespectful to those who put in 2 years of free personal time with no income and a lot of hard effort to at least create a scheme that saved lives… and we thank the person who left a message speaking of the positive work we have been doing- it should be noted that during the monsoon of 2006 not one person died on Koh Phangan – a first for the island – thanks to the efforts of daily lifeguards and cordening off the beach. It is however very sad that due to the negative attitude of a few on the island and malicious and jealous attitude of some, that the members of the committee decided to stop the Phangan Safety Fund scheme and subsequently hand it over to the Islands Government officials who will do with it as they please as we no longer have an input whatsoever. I also find it very sad (and find the people who write this things very sad) that there seems to also be persons here operating like they are the ‘gutter press- the Koh Phangan ‘News of the World ‘ printing gossip articles simply for reaction – what an apathetic and sad way that so many are becoming … it must be asked why they came to the island in the first place – the drugs? the parties? the hedonistic lifestyle?- and sadly most are no better than the Rupert Murdoch’s of this world who get their kicks from creating as much chaos, gossip, intrusion, lies, deciept and destruction … which is why sometimes doing something good really is not worth the effort and exactly the reason the Phangan Safety Fund has closed down – there are subsequently currently now no lifeguards on Haadrin beach any more … what a sad way for these people to live in Paradise … maybe these critics should reflect on really who is destroying our island – maybe take a look in the mirror – sadly they probably wont see what we see …

    Reply
    • Hi Bambi,

      Thanks a lot for your comment. And again I have to tell you that I have never made any accusations regarding the Phangan Safety Fund – never!

      But quite hilarious I found your statement that during the monsoon in 2006 not one person died thanks to the effort of daily lifeguards – as first time on the island! That’s quite ridiculous and could be understood as total misinformation normally published by one of the Murdoch’s propaganda networks. I’ve lived many years on this island and I’ve seen many monsoons without a single dead body. To say monsoon 2006 was the first time without a dead body thanks to the Phangan Safety Fund could be seen as … chaos, gossip, intrusion, lies, deceit and destruction … to put it in your own words 😉

      Anyway … finally the Phangan Safety Fund belongs where it should have belonged in the first place – to the island government officials! At the very end it’s their island and they should take care of their tourists. Of course we all know that the island officials have no interest or whatsoever to protect their daily income but that’s another chapter of its own.

      As soon as tourists stop visiting the island of madness local officials and business men will have a closer look and hopefully start improving things. Though we all know that this is going to be a very slow process and I personally think it’s probably never going to happen. At the very end it’s not about taking care of anything … it’s always about those tiny printed sheets of paper 😉

      Look around and widely open your mind and eyes and see the insanity of the world we all live in! It’s disgusting! Don’t you agree?

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    From members of the PHANGAN SAFETY FUND – We accept that bringing information into the public domain is both democratic and acceptable, especially if the data exists on an existing website, however, it is respectful to be asked prior to print especially if the article is raising issues and accusations that have no substance and often done so just to create a reaction – nevertheless, as the said article has now been in the public domain for 3 months we are pleased that it was brought to our attention by a member of the public who found it offensive and disrespectful to those who put in 2 years of free personal time with no income and a lot of hard effort to at least create a scheme that saved lives… and we thank the person who left a message speaking of the positive work we have been doing- it should be noted that during the monsoon of 2006 not one person died on Koh Phangan – a first for the island – thanks to the efforts of daily lifeguards and cordening off the beach. It is however very sad that due to the negative attitude of a few on the island and malicious and jealous attitude of some, that the members of the committee decided to stop the Phangan Safety Fund scheme and subsequently hand it over to the Islands Government officials who will do with it as they please as we no longer have an input whatsoever. I also find it very sad (and find the people who write this things very sad) that there seems to also be persons here operating like they are the ‘gutter press- the Koh Phangan ‘News of the World ‘ printing gossip articles simply for reaction – what an apathetic and sad way that so many are becoming … it must be asked why they came to the island in the first place – the drugs? the parties? the hedonistic lifestyle?- and sadly most are no better than the Rupert Murdoch’s of this world who get their kicks from creating as much chaos, gossip, intrusion, lies, deciept and destruction … which is why sometimes doing something good really is not worth the effort and exactly the reason the Phangan Safety Fund has closed down – there are subsequently currently now no lifeguards on Haadrin beach any more … what a sad way for these people to live in Paradise … maybe these critics should reflect on really who is destroying our island – maybe take a look in the mirror – sadly they probably wont see what we see …

    Reply
    • Hi Bambi,

      Thanks a lot for your comment. And again I have to tell you that I have never made any accusations regarding the Phangan Safety Fund – never!

      But quite hilarious I found your statement that during the monsoon in 2006 not one person died thanks to the effort of daily lifeguards – as first time on the island! That’s quite ridiculous and could be understood as total misinformation normally published by one of the Murdoch’s propaganda networks. I’ve lived many years on this island and I’ve seen many monsoons without a single dead body. To say monsoon 2006 was the first time without a dead body thanks to the Phangan Safety Fund could be seen as … chaos, gossip, intrusion, lies, deceit and destruction … to put it in your own words 😉

      Anyway … finally the Phangan Safety Fund belongs where it should have belonged in the first place – to the island government officials! At the very end it’s their island and they should take care of their tourists. Of course we all know that the island officials have no interest or whatsoever to protect their daily income but that’s another chapter of its own.

      As soon as tourists stop visiting the island of madness local officials and business men will have a closer look and hopefully start improving things. Though we all know that this is going to be a very slow process and I personally think it’s probably never going to happen. At the very end it’s not about taking care of anything … it’s always about those tiny printed sheets of paper 😉

      Look around and widely open your mind and eyes and see the insanity of the world we all live in! It’s disgusting! Don’t you agree?

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    Hi guys,

    I’ve been on and off the island of madness for the last 10 years. And to be honest I really do enjoy Becki’s work a lot reporting the awful truth. It’s at least a lot better than all this blue crystal water, white sandy beaches and Thai family style bullshit what most other website want you to believe in. Keep up the good work Becki!

    However … I also somehow feel the urge to post a comment regarding the Phangan Safety Fund, lifeguards and the financial funding scheme. A few months back this year I also went to a full moon party and saw those Phangan safety fund guys running around in red t-shirts with some official name tags and collecting donations throughout the night from the tourists. Looked like that they spend more times on collecting donations rather patrolling the beach.

    So the statement that those guys only purely acted as an interface to organize things locally seems a bit odd.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      So you support Beckmans amazing island reporting eh! I guess you’re a Sunday Sport and News of The World reader right? He does a good job sitting in the jungle doesn’t he – the islands non-roving reporter? Anyway, enough about Becks – he likes to throw hand-grenades (well he is German!) and then sit back and see what happens! Oh, and congratulations on your astute observations – which are obviously based on your amazing knowledge of the scheme and obviously on how it is operated, the number of people involved, etc etc.. so to enlighten you (should yo be in need of enlightenment) the fundraising at full moon night was only done at the permeantly manned ‘sleep area’ and as such utilising the people there to raise money to pay for the bandages, antispeptic etc. which are used to aid those who obtian injuries at the party in their drunken states (was it all really worth it?)! What you obviously didn’t observe were the additional western volunteers, western nurses, Samui Tourist police and some government officials involved with the scheme in amongst the 10,000 or so revellers looking to help those in distress! So, again congratulations on being one of those whose ‘limited views’ and attitude and comments add to the reasoning the scheme has ceased to operate – I hope you don’t get in trouble on Haadrin beach as your’e on your own mate!!! For those reading these articles I won’t waste any more of my time or my energy on responding to these postings – these people really don’t deserve any more ‘air time’ so this will be my final posting. Anyone wishing any more information on the scheme please feel free to contact Jan Eklow at http://www.thailiv.se if you want to see where the donations have gone!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        Oh god!!! Not a Scandinavian giving us a lecture on on boozeing. Now that is a fucking ironic thing.

        Reply
  • Anonymous

    Hi guys,

    I’ve been on and off the island of madness for the last 10 years. And to be honest I really do enjoy Becki’s work a lot reporting the awful truth. It’s at least a lot better than all this blue crystal water, white sandy beaches and Thai family style bullshit what most other website want you to believe in. Keep up the good work Becki!

    However … I also somehow feel the urge to post a comment regarding the Phangan Safety Fund, lifeguards and the financial funding scheme. A few months back this year I also went to a full moon party and saw those Phangan safety fund guys running around in red t-shirts with some official name tags and collecting donations throughout the night from the tourists. Looked like that they spend more times on collecting donations rather patrolling the beach.

    So the statement that those guys only purely acted as an interface to organize things locally seems a bit odd.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      So you support Beckmans amazing island reporting eh! I guess you’re a Sunday Sport and News of The World reader right? He does a good job sitting in the jungle doesn’t he – the islands non-roving reporter? Anyway, enough about Becks – he likes to throw hand-grenades (well he is German!) and then sit back and see what happens! Oh, and congratulations on your astute observations – which are obviously based on your amazing knowledge of the scheme and obviously on how it is operated, the number of people involved, etc etc.. so to enlighten you (should yo be in need of enlightenment) the fundraising at full moon night was only done at the permeantly manned ‘sleep area’ and as such utilising the people there to raise money to pay for the bandages, antispeptic etc. which are used to aid those who obtian injuries at the party in their drunken states (was it all really worth it?)! What you obviously didn’t observe were the additional western volunteers, western nurses, Samui Tourist police and some government officials involved with the scheme in amongst the 10,000 or so revellers looking to help those in distress! So, again congratulations on being one of those whose ‘limited views’ and attitude and comments add to the reasoning the scheme has ceased to operate – I hope you don’t get in trouble on Haadrin beach as your’e on your own mate!!! For those reading these articles I won’t waste any more of my time or my energy on responding to these postings – these people really don’t deserve any more ‘air time’ so this will be my final posting. Anyone wishing any more information on the scheme please feel free to contact Jan Eklow at http://www.thailiv.se if you want to see where the donations have gone!

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        Oh god!!! Not a Scandinavian giving us a lecture on on boozeing. Now that is a fucking ironic thing.

        Reply
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