LOVE IS IN THE AIR - PAC PARTY PHANGAN

LOVE IS IN THE AIR - 14 FEB 2013 - LEELA BEACH BUNGALOWS                                                                                                                       

Phanganist catches up with 'Love Is In The Air' PAC Charity Party organiser Dr John, from Amsterdam.

A professional DJ since 2005, Dr John runs his own company in Holland where he organises around 100 parties a year. He has played at parties across Europe and the Caribbean with audiences varying from 50 to 5000 people and has also played Club Titanium Bangkok and Mellow Mountain Full Moon Party. He has gigs on Koh Phangan this season at 'Love Is In The Air' and Secret Garden.

Last year, with the help of many Koh Phangan friends and volunteers, he organised a PAC Charity Party held at Leela Beach Bungalows, Haad Rin which raised 22,000bt for PhaNgan Animal Care.  The 2nd edition of this annual PAC Party Phangan will be held at the same venue on Leela Beach on Valentines Day, 14th February 2013.   Love Is In The Air!

Coming to Koh Phangan since 2000 Dr John freely admits that he immediately fell in love with this island then and there.  He has been spending the winters here since 2005, each year extending his trip to spend more & more time on Koh Phangan.  Nowadays he says he feels more at home over here than back home in Holland - which I think a lot of us Koh Phanganers can relate to!

We first met Dr John when he became one of the long-termers to keep returning to Bird Bungalows, Haad Rin Sunset, every season.  He soon became part of the family, but it was only in time that we realised he was as dog-mad as the rest of us - me, Pablo, Vince, Oxana, Tania, Louise, Vic - sometimes it feels like PAC sub-headquarters at Bird!  Por from Phangan Animal Care knows us all intimately, especially Vince & Oxana - who make trips over in the low season just to feed the dogs at PAC! 

One summer when Vince sent Dr John in Holland a message the party seed was sown…"For some time I had been thinking about organising a private party on Phangan, just for fun. But the last years I met more and more people who were very committed to PAC. I wanted to support the good work of PAC in my own personal way and that’s how I got the idea of organising a party especially for PAC. A great party, but not just for fun."

Last year the 'Funky Fur' PAC Party was a success story right from the start.  Everyone approached by Dr John and told about the idea for a charity party was immediately enthusiastic. 

"All the people that got involved were so committed right from the start:  Por and the volunteers from PAC, the DJ’s (Kaonashi, Pablo Escobud), the staff of Leela Beach Bungalows and all my Koh Phangan friends who helped me with the promotion. I was really moved by all the support that I got."

Describing last year's party to us, John sets the scene:  "Leela Beach Bungalows was nicely decorated for the special event and Kaonashi kick-started the party with a set that perfectly matched the beautiful sunset. Subsequently I played a funky house set, in line with that year’s theme 'Funky Fur' and Pablo Escobud took it to the final level with a smashing house set.

We had about 150 guests at the party, who were dancing barefoot in the fine sand of Leela Beach or had a drink and a chat in the lovely restaurant area. The setting, the atmosphere and the vibe were even better than I could have wished for. To me that night at Leela Beach was close to perfection."

So much so that he decided to do it again! By November we were receiving excited emails from him in Holland: Yeehaa! So the idea for a Valentine's edition is on. For this year the theme will be 'Love is in the air'. Looking forward to see you again in paradise.

"And I'm getting more and more excited about Valentine's Day!" 

The line up for this once-a-year-special event at Leela Beach consists of Dr John along with Island DJs Kaonashi, Darragh Casey & Pablo Escobud.

"I was looking for a line-up of professional funky DJ’s for the 'Funky Fur' theme last year.  Joe, Pablo & Darragh fitted perfectly in the concept that I had in mind. They are part of the woodwork on Phangan: they are familiar with the diversity of people that stay on the island (the residents but also the visitors; long-term and short-term) and I already knew that they know perfectly how to interact with the ever-changing crowd and atmosphere at different parties.  Unfortunately Darragh couldn’t make it last year,  but when I asked them if they could voluntarily play at the party again this year they all immediately said yes - which of course I’m very excited about and grateful for!"

"To me it's the perfect line-up for this year's edition. It will be on Valentine's day, the overall idea will be "Love" and the music will be played by the greatest and nicest DJ's on the island. It will be absolutely perfect!"

The 2nd edition of the Charity Party for PAC (Phangan Animal Care) will be on Valentine's day: 14th February 2013.

Like last year the entrance is free, but a donation of 100 Baht (or more) to PAC would be highly appreciated. The party will start just before sunset on the beautiful beach of Leela Beach Bungalows, Koh Phangan, Thailand.

Hope to see you all there to support the good work of PAC and to celebrate the good life on Koh Phangan, where Love Is In The Air!

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