Koh Phangan - The Home of the Parties in South East Asia!

Recently, we have heard a lot of people, mostly djs, refer to Koh Phangan as ‘the new Ibiza’.

Or they describe the island as being like how Ibiza was ‘back in the day’.

So, is Koh Phangan really the new Ibiza? I don’t think Koh Phangan will ever be like another place and the same probably goes for Ibiza. I mean they’re both small islands yes, both have nice beaches and beautiful seas but each place no matter how similar will always have its own quirks and energies.

I must admit that I have never been to Ibiza and neither has anyone else in Phanganist HQ so I asked a couple of people who have, their thoughts on the subject.

From what I can gather the main difference between Ibiza and Phangan’s party scene is that Phangan doesn’t really have a ‘club culture’ as all of our parties are outdoors (a good thing, right?).

But Koh Phangan has been described by some as the second on the list, after Ibiza, for the place most known for parties.

We asked Ibizan resident Xavier Arak what the Ibizan music scene was like compared to Koh Phangan -

‘Ibiza is still one of the best places for electronic music but Phangan is more of a fresh place.
When you come here all of the people and the jungle give a lot to the atmosphere and it is not as massive as Ibiza’.

So maybe we are Ibiza’s little sister in some respects? Not so developed with lots of jungle still in abundance and a more natural environment that seeps into the party culture to keep it organic. People who visit and live on Phangan have a great love and respect for the nature, it’s the most common answer when we ask people what inspires their art or why they love the place.

Both islands also have their respective ‘sunset culture’, chilling on the beautiful beaches with ambient beats in the background to enjoy a romantic, magical sun sleep. Both places get beautiful sunsets and then after dark this is when you can party (although you can party in the daytime too!).

One thing that Phangan does have on Ibiza is that it is not as expensive, it is slightly more expensive than the mainland of Thailand but Ibiza is known for its high costs, even back in the 80s when the club scene began over there.

We also have more variety (we think) of music, Psy Trance was the beginnings over here and the Trance scene still runs deep in Phangan’s veins even though the main style now seems to be Underground House, as well as a whole hoard of different kinds of music from Reggae, Drum n Bass to a multitude of different experimental sub genres.

Whatever the similarities and whatever the differences, I think Koh Phangan being compared to Ibiza can only be a good thing. As long as we can keep our individuality of colour, jungle, happiness and life and keep the island as beautiful as it is now without much more development then Koh Phangan must be doing something right. But as with everything else ‘in it’s own special Phangan way’.

The final words must come from our very own Graham Gold who played Ibiza weekly from 1992 - 2003. He is now one of Phangan’s biggest DJs who moved here seven years ago…

Graham says - 

‘There are so many similarities between Koh Phangan and Ibiza. Koh Phangan is the bastard child of the 3 islands in the Gulf of Thailand. Ibiza is the bastard child of the main 3 islands in the Balearics. The free spirited hippies discovered Ibiza in the late 60s, as hordes escaped mainland Spain and the rule of Franco, while, over in this part of the world, they discovered Koh Phangan in the 80s, many coming from Goa and bringing with them Goa Trance. This also coincided with the birth of a new music genre in Ibiza-the Balearic vibe into clubbing culture. And in 1993 came the clampdown by the government and the clubs had to have roofs put on - the outside party vibe being almost made redundant but kept alive with the beach clubs like Bora Bora (Playa d’en Bossa) and Jockey Club (Salinas Beach) and of course the amazing DC10 (not actually on a beach but….) And we have seen the same here in the last couple of years with clampdowns-Parties having to operate now legally and with licences.

And there the similarities end. Well almost. Even in the 80’s in Ibiza, in Ibiza town and just outside you had these massive clubs - Privilege, then called KU and was almost entirely outdoors, and Amnesia, with Space opening only in 1989, and the smallest of the ‘superclubs’, Pacha which opened in 1973 and is the island’s oldest club. There were also the smaller and much cheaper (though sometimes not THAT much cheaper) clubs in San Antonio such as Summum, Es Paradis and Kaos/Star Club, now called Eden, and a few more scattered around. BUT the MAIN fundamental difference is this - ALL these clubs had one thing in common from the early nineties, with the exception of Pacha (where Gods like Tenaglia, Morillo, the late Frankie Knuckles and Morales played regularly). and that was having key club brands such as Cream, Cocoon, Circoloco and Gods Kitchen taking over the venues weekly for the duration of the summer season. And with those brands came the world’s biggest DJ’s. And that’s why Ibiza worked. All very credible then, but now the majority of these club brands have sold out to E.D.M.

But all your favourite dj’s in one place somewhere, hey you could see seven to ten of your favourite DJ’s in the world all in ONE WEEK!! And that will never happen here, at least I don’t think so anyway.

Imagine Carl Cox, John Digweed, Sasha, Eric Morillo, David Morales, Richie Hawtin, Adam Beyer, Paul Oakenfold, Armin, Louie Vega, Laurent Garnier and newer names like Dixon, Nick Curly, Ame  or Maceo Plex. True, we are getting some great names, and brilliantly underground ones at that, but come on, who would not love to see Coxy or Sasha here!! 

We don’t have anything like those venues here on Koh Phangan, not even now. And of course many more clubs have been built in Ibiza along the way – Ushuaia, Sankeys, Ocean Beach, Ibiza Rocks (formerly Pikes), Boom and Zoo Project.

We don’t have those either. But we do have great outdoor parties and I think many of those early club owners in Ibiza would be quite jealous that even since the crackdown here, Jungle Experience, Half Moon, Black Moon, Maya and now Night Nature still exist. And we do have our beach clubs! Merkaba brought a whole new sophisticated vibe to our island and now with Infinity, we could rival, a bit anyway, Ibiza.

Then add the beach parties like Pirates Bar, Wild Beach (when it opens!!) and the ‘almost beach parties’ like Guy’s Bar, Eden, Loi Lay, Ku Club and Lighthouse, you could say we are neck and neck with the White Isle on that front anyway.

Whilst we don’t have the amazing sound systems that you have in Ibiza, we do have one thing they don’t, well they do on some nights, but not too much these days anyway. They don’t have the sound of the underground anymore (though they do have a club called Underground, which does stay true to its name thankfully).

Phangan will never have the money to have the likes of Guetta, Avicii and Calvin Harris..and thank FUCK FOR THAT, THEY CAN STAY IN IBIZA AND VEGAS! 

Ibiza is pretty much mainstream now, and in a fact it always was, to a degree if you think about that ‘Balearic Vibe’ it was pretty commercial after all.

The real sound of Koh Phangan has stayed true to it’s roots, and whatever else Ibiza has, it won’t ever be Koh Phangan. And we will, in reality, never be Ibiza!!’