It was about the middle of September when I realized I was pretty much in the perfect place at the perfect time. The full moon was to be rising in about 3 days and I had nothing to do but make my way over to some of Thailand’s most famed destinations, the islands in the Gulf of Thailand. First stop: Koh Phangan, home of the infamous full moon party for the last 30 something years or so.

This was one of the first things I heard about backpacking in Thailand when my interest was first piqued who knows, maybe 10 years ago. And being a lover of psy trance I got excited at the possibility of me rocking out to some psy trance on a beach in Thailand. So I knew I had to go, experience it for myself.

And you know what? I had a freaking blast. I had low expectations but I was sincerely impressed. They had maybe 6 stages playing a decent fare of poppy electro music, but set off on its own was a fully decked out psy trance stage pumping all night long, with excited revelers from all over the world dancing their hearts out. There were also activities! Like a water slide, fire challenges (jump rope and limbo), art, fire displays, delicious food, friendly Thai people serving you, and plenty of nice bars serving just about everything you could want, all in a beautiful setting on Hand Rin Beach with an East facing view for moonrise and of course sunrise (which I was happy to witness).

So maybe I am that terrible kind of tourist who is entertained by this kind of thing. Or maybe I just know how to let go and have a good time. But the people of Koh Phangan I felt were into it, this is their party that they put on for us tourists and they do a good job of it. And I was even impressed to see initiatives in harm reduction (a secure sleeping area for people who needed to “sleep it off” before going home, people walking around assisting those who had gone a bit overboard, and security watching over the people going for dips in the ocean). All in all I would recommend going to it, if you’re into partying and in general having a good time with people from all over the world.

Aaaand I relaxed on Koh Phangan long enough to enjoy it’s beaches, forests and massively chilled out vibe. A bank machine ate my debit card, luckily I had some time to kill before it could be retried and 8000 baht in fresh bills in my hands so onward to the Diving mecca of Koh Tao!

Morning on the dive boat

And I got my PADI open water scuba diving certification because “why not?”. A wonderful cheap place to do it, with beautiful diving sites (although I have nothing to compare it to). I was surprised at how comfortable being underwater with a tank strapped to my back and breathing through a tube was. And to experience this new world of sights and sounds was an amazing experience. I will remember forever the colors when doing our sunrise dive at chumphon pinnacle, deep turquoise water with bright orange, mauve, blue, red corals and fishes flittering around, with rays of light breaking down into the depths. And the feeling when you burst through back to the surface was amazing.

Sunset from the Natural High Bar on Koh Tao

Aside from diving there was plenty of other fun things to do on Koh Tao, like hike to the other side and scramble through rocks to an amazing cliff jump into crystal clear waters at sunset, hiking to beautiful viewpoints to watch the sunset, and stay up late drinking and chilling out in the nicest hostel on the island (Spicy Tao). But after just over a week my money was out and it was time to move on.

In all their touristy gloriousness, these islands are designed for you to have a good time on. Theres no rural Thai life and little experience of Thai culture, but they sure are fun and that is what they are there for. Just remember to still be respectful, try to use as much Thai as you can (you will be rewarded with many smiles if you do!), and try not to trash and destroy these natural gems while you’re there.