Positive Changes

The newly formed Haadrin Business Association has been sight up primarily to "right the wrongs" to tourists and to ensure positive changes happen not just in Haadrin but across the whole island. It comprises of 6 forward thinking and respected local resort owners who were born on the island and have worked hard to establish our businesses here. We are also working on ensuring every business in Haadrin supports as and will be proud to have our sticker displayed on their premises-Proud To Be A Member Of The Haadrin Business Association.This means they adhere to the ethics of our group which primarily means they are 'ferrang friendly'.

We are aware of all the bad press globally both in newspapers and on line about our island. A few of the hotels/resorts now have notices in all their rooms about the dangers tourists could face which includes the damage to scooters and hiring of jet skis, and the advice to photograph the machines before renting. They even also advise that it is illegal for anyone other than immigration to ask for a passport to be left- a copy is enough.

With the money from the entry charge to the beach for Full Moon, we have set up a Tourist Police, added more than 50 CCTV cameras in Haadrin to ensure the safety of our visitors, provided bins for beach rubbish and of course the beach cleaning the day after Full Moon.

There is still much more to do, and of course, like everywhere, nothing happens over night. But our efforts will not stop until the good name of Haadrin and Koh Phangan itself is restored to it's former glory. That was when tourists were always met with a smile, and always made to feel welcome. Of course, we are also aware that some of the bad attitude of some of our local people towards tourists is justified because of the behavior of just a few tourists who wish to spoil things for others. We are aware that this happens not just here on Koh Phangan but in many holiday areas around the world, whether it's Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey or wherever. Young people getting drunk on cheap alcohol is always going to be problem. So please allow us time also to change the mindset of some our own who have had property damaged or are still dealing with abusive tourists. We are explaining to them that we must not "paint everyone with the same brush". So to this end, we asked tourists both via Haadrin Focus and Phangan Info magazines to please respect our local people.

Of course we know not just the livelihood of the resorts are at stake but everything else too. Without tourists businesses such as bike/car rental, internet cafes/tour agencies, laundry outlets, dive schools, island tours, shops, bar and restaurants would never survive. And this is why we have set up Love:IS.

The Love:IS festival on Saturday January 21st is an idea we have had to show the world that Haadrin is NOT just about Full Moon and the notoriety that goes with it. We want to prove that we are able to deliver a high quality event with some of the biggest DJ's in the world performing. For our first event the HBA has spent almost 2 million baht of it's own money. Sure it could have been more, but of course we have no previous experience in this matter, and for that reason, the managers of DJ's such as Paul van Dyk, Fatboy Slim, Tiesto, David Guetta and Carl Cox want to see what we can do before they can commit their artists to playing at our event.

By Western standards, we know 2 miilion is not a vast amount of money, and that the big festivals in the West are financed by "The City"-banks etc. With the worldwide negative press about Thailand, especially the terrible flooding across much of the Kingdom through December, very few are prepared to invest just yet. But even with 2 million, we are pulling out all the stops to bring to Haadrin, a fabulous event that will be so much good for the island. What sets  us apart from every other event that happens on this island is that as a group, we know we will not probably benefit directly financially as our only income will be the 500 baht beach entry fee. But that is not our aim anyway. We need more tourists to come and stay on our island not just for the 5 days over Full Moon, even two weeks is not long enough to enjoy all that we have to offer. We need them to stay for longer so they can enjoy ALL of our Paradise-The waterfalls, the elephants, the amazing natural beauty, the REAL Thai hospitality and of course Thai Culture. And this is what sets aside from our neighbors like Samui and Koh Tao and even Phuket. The main resort areas on Samui and Phuket are no different from Tenerife and  Magaluf-blatant commercialism, and Koh Tao is primarily an island for diving. We have so much more here that we are now ready to tell the world!

Haadrin Business Association