The Full Moon party is what makes Koh Phangan unique in all of Asia and all around the world.
The status of Koh Phangan now, all of the development, the art we have here, the spiritual activities and most of the expats who now live and sustain a living here would not be able to do this without the Full Moon project that has run for about thirty years.
Over the years this festival has become famous worldwide and it brings with it new opportunities and more responsibility but we should not forget that all of the island’s growth would not of been able to happen without the Full Moon party.
This amazing project gathers young people, still innocent souls, from all around the world, mostly for the first and maybe the only time, to celebrate with each other like only young people can.
In today’s world when the distance between different cultures and religions grows big, it is an amazing opportunity to become less distanced and more loving to each other.
Where else in the world will you find Russians, Ukrainians,Turkish, Israelis, Iranians,Swedish, Danish, Germans and Austrians hug, embrace and dance together. Seeing that there are good and kind people in every nation in spite of what is being shown on TV screens.
We should be proud and honoured to have this big opportunity to impact, even if just a bit and to make this world more positive.
We also should definitely be aware and concerned about the safety of the nature and perform many activities both to clean during and after the party and to raise awareness.
It is important to raise awareness for keeping the nature and other good causes by posting and commenting on facebook and other social media. But it is important to also try and do some productive actions to preserve the environment whilst keeping this important festival running, growing and fulfilling its purpose to unite young spirits.
We the expats who live here, know how easy it is for the Full Moon to get bad publicity in the western media, some of it justified but much of it is twisted and not more than populistic propaganda. We who live here because of this event should not take part in this western media game. There is no doubt about the importance of keeping the beach and the sea clean but we should act responsibly and productively to support this important cause.
The Full Moon party happens just once a month, for the rest of the month it is quiet and clean. There are activities happening to try to preserve the nature.
1. The beach is cleaned manually and using a plough.
2. The shore is being cleaned by hand
3. There are nets spread during the party to help prevent the plastic go further into the ocean.
Of course there needs to be more done, so along with The Tourist Association of Koh Phangan we call you, all the people that care and love nature, to share with us PRODUCTIVE ideas about what more we can do to keep the beach and nature safe. Any ideas will be taken seriously and the best one will be rewarded. Fill in the form at the bottom of this article or send us an email to phanganist@phanganist.com
We wish you all a Happy New Year from Phanganist and keep on realising your dreams on the most amazing place to be in the world.
Please take a look at our video of the Beach Cleaning arranged by Leo Beer, it is just one example of what can be done for this matter.