Bangkok Post Postbag – Clean up the drug parties on Koh Phangan Island
Just recently Koh Phangan Island News headquarters detected another user comment about the current party zone situation on Koh Phangan Island in one of the main media newspapers from Thailand, called Bangkok Post.
The comment of the anonymous user named ‘Desperate’ was published by Bangkok Post 20th January 2008 in the postbag section.
Clean up the drug parties!
I read the interview with Pol Lt-Gen Wuthi Liptapallop (InSight, Jan 13) with great interest. I learned that he is determined to fight the drug problem in Thailand.
In Koh Pha Ngan in Surat Thani the main problem are the parties around Bantai village, halfway between Thongsala and Haad Rin (Full Moon Party).
Shivamoon, Halfmoon, Blackmoon and Jungle Party are also big events on the island attracting large crowds abusing excessively all kinds of narcotics and illegal substances. These parties run from 9 p.m. until noon the next day, hammering their terrible noise into the open air, leaving many villagers sleepless all night.
Imagine those night-long, noise polluting, most disturbing events happening in your area, or seeing these drugged individuals walking in your street. No need to mention fatalities and injuries, the rising amount of drug related accidents, robberies and house break-ins.
In other major tourist areas in Bangkok, Phuket or Koh Samui, entertainment venues have to close at 2 a.m. Enforcing that measure on the above mentioned places would reduce the problems. Better, of course, would be a total and nonnegotiable ban, especially in and near residential areas, to bring back peace and a good night’s sleep.
Last but not least, these days people are just talking about the ‘Kids on Drugs Parties’ on Koh Phangan. Can the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority of Thailand accept that rather dubious reputation?
Is it really worthwhile to promote the touristic development of Koh Pha Ngan on this basis?
Please help to get the island clean and the situation under control.
DESPERATE
I just came back from Goa. The parties are better, the drugs are better and cheaper and you can pay the cops off. Thailand is getting to Hi-So….shame.
Getting high even with crappy smoke is more expensive than most would pay at home. And crap is usually all u can find! Penalties are more serious too. In short this is no longer a smoke friendly country. So if that’s what u like to do, u may want find another place to spend your vacation. If pills are your thing, this maybe the place.
The body of the beautiful spirit of Pra Prassert of Wat Pho was killed by drugs. Extreme message?????
this article is bullshit half moon is miles away from anywhere and ive certainly never heard it at bantai 7/11 and same for shiva moon as for ban sabai theyve come to agreements with the neighbours and the sound does not travel far in fact u can only just hear it in the little shop right next to it and the owners of that cert aint complaining with all the xtra buisness they get, also ban sabai doesnt start till 10 so the ‘loons’ coming doesnt clash with school run who wrote this article surely not bekki as most other articles bar 1 havent had such negative comments after all the partys are the life blood of phangans tourist industry without them it would die!
ah sorry becki i just read the article again and realised you just actually printed the letter from the bangkok post and were not your views though this above comment was also directed at earlier article concerning the parties!
Haha! The guy who did the Feb 1st posting MUST have been on mushrooms when he wrote that! I have friends who rent houses near the Shiva Moon party and vacate their properties each week this party is on as the repetetive beat reverburates all night long! They are well pissed off and are Thai and Farang long term residnets and having problems renting out properties they own nearby due to this party! Also depending on wind direction the noise travels far in certain seasons. That ‘orrible MTF pool party kept all the locals awake when it was on and even the girly bars in Ban Tai play excessive music that can be heard by all the locals upto 1Km away (dependingon wind direction!) The noise pollution on this island is appalling (and Illegal!) and its only a tiny percentage of the population of the 12,000 residents who goto these parties or make money from them. I would say people with views like this are the reason the toursits are leaving in their droves – Resorts in ban Tai are EMPTY most of the month and Haadrin is dead now through each month except for the 2 days before and 2 days after Full Moon – the parties and all night bar noise pollution has killed the long term tourists visiting this island – when you come down off your mushrooms and actually get out of the parties and stand 1Km away maybe you will understand how wrong you are with your observations!! Getting rid of these parties won’t destroy business it will increase it and make our island what it should be ‘an island of natural beauty’ rather than an island of hedonistic disrespectful pill heads!! Please leave your address and I will gladly start a hardcore Punk Rock Moon Party nearby – lets see if you like it?
Correct me if im wrong but shiva moon is once a month not once a week so is not that much of a hardship same with mtf! Ear plugs are very effective these days! There are many other beatiful islands in thailand that are cheaper(if only marginally) to stay on if the parties were to stop my concern is the tourists will go to them, or the other option to bring the tourists in is to go down the samui route where as u may get a better nights sleep but ‘your’ beatiful island will be covered in buidings and golf courses destroying the nature and adding to the impending disaster of global warming!! You and your friends would probaly rub your hands together at the thought of that your propeties values going sky high make a fat profit then take your kill joy ways to the next place!You say our island are you thai me thinks not if not you’ll always be a visitor and will never be ‘our’ island as you put it even if you do own a plot of land when the waters rise and tourism stops falang will be the first to be kicked out and land will go back to the king! I know the owners of quite a few buisnesses on phangan from a dive shop to bungalows to scooter hire all thai and all would disagree with your comments and oppose the stopping of any parties as they are well aware what an adverse effect it would have on there buisness! I am an easy going person and could put up with something once a month if im wrong and shiva is every week then i agree it should only be once a month! Though i would agree about the music at the girlie bars it is an annoyance it never goes on late and rules and regulations are not in keepin with the phangan spirit! And you talk about legallity prostitution is technically illegal in thailand so bars shouldnt even be there but thats the country you chose to live in if you dont like it leave and stop whingeing!!
just like to add to feb the 4th guy you are probaly 1 of the 20% of complete assholes who want an airport on phangan!
fuckin ay! i’d be up for an airport on phangan rather than having to transit through samui (as long as BK airways dont get the monopoly)
Wanker!!
To all of you..I have lived on koh pha-ngan now for many years and have to say that there are to many parties on this island bring all the shit and scum here like most of you drug brain dead arseholes.To the france wankers who are selling the pills your photos have been sent to bangkok.we are looking forward to seeing you banged up.The rest off you fuck off home pill heads
You a fucking wanker why dont you fuck off back to where u came from you may live phangan but your family not from here so you cant comment most locals dont mind parties i should know all my family and friends from here before pill heads we only have coconuts and fishing now we have cars and nice houses tourist numbers dropping allready because of recession if we lose parties we lose even more buisness people not born phangan with views like these should keep to themselves or leave!!
I was born in Bantai Phagnan and also my grand parent are the local people in Bantai, I read a lot of comments some used very low langquet, I felt very shame if they are local people from Phagnan.Since a lot of tourist coming, a lot of party, a lot of money some of them lost their own culture and sooooooooo seltfish. all the party around 3 villages of Bantai just some groups get a lot of money from the tourist party but most of the local prople can not sleep for sure. I have old grandparents and shildren and how they can study without sleeping at night time with Bum Bum Bum ( i can not say music because no music ) Our King said ” everybody have a freedom to do everything but not disturb another people” but some Thai people can not get inside their heads because they are too seltfish. The owner of Shiva Moon party told the local people “sorry for the people but he will not stop if another party not stop” it means every party (Halfmoon,jungle,blackmoon,Bansabai) also should stop. Now they can do because of Krang jai and they should Krang jai another people too. Now more and More party . For me I don’t want this kind of Touris who don’t respect and distroy our culture. I think in Phuket and another place dont’ have party but they can have good Tourist. I don’t want party and drug Tourist in my beautiful Phangan. Real local Phangan.
person above are you insane phuket has nice tourists have you ever been there its 1 of the sleasiest places in thailand with a large percentage of falang sex torists and the nature is destroyed with over development and golf courses i would cry should phangan ever become like that!
To all this stupid idiots who think to come here and believe that they already own this island and want to make it to an island party zone and using a low class of vocabulary.
Just leave this island of my great-grandparents and give back the peace we had before you came here. We born here and only we have the right to decide where our future goes. But be sure that your kind of people (drug addicted, thinking only of their personal fun, without any respect) are not our future!
We have a culture that is much older and gentler than what you like to bring to us. Anyway, you will never understand it at all because you never interested to know about us.
all these “stupid idiots” bringing in a lot of money. with this money you can buy cars, tv’s and motorbikes with extremely loud exhaustpipes witch you can hear in ban tai even if this vehicle is driving in thongsala. is that the expresssion of your in fact very interesting culture? please remember that this island is part of that planet and belongs to nobody or everybody. the best way to save your culture is to remove the all day and night long runnig tv set’ s witch pumping a lot of crab into the minds of you and your children. at least i want to use the words of a thai local who said to me: “all thai people in here are bad, but some are good”. with plenty of respect, i think, it’s like that everywhere you go. knowing koh phangan now for 15 jears, i decided to leave. sorry!
oh… and if YOU want have the peace back ,YOU once had on koh phangan, than YOU only have to stop the partys because YOU have the landrights on the partyareas.
hey, what’s going on? is it true halfmoonparty closed at 2 am (14.03.08) and jungleparty cancelled? or is it just anohter joke?
yep … half moon party was shut down by local police at 2 a.m. jungle experience took their flyers off the road so i suppose this party event is also cancelled.
more party news to come soon once i find time to write an article 😉
You reap what you sow.
I see the locals are quick to blame the tourists for the drug taking and selling. What about all the Thia people selling and getting off their heads. I saw plenty of them when I was there
Drug adictes need help, because the are sick. Why not open a clinic on KP. I think it’s the perfect place to find a way back to a naturally life without drugs that harms your brain and body.
Just make life-musik and stop the techno-shit, then it will be a smoking-party only. Pills are for kiddos only. Grow up Koh Phangan and go back to the roots!