The short answer
This guide covers the practical side of planning a trip around a monthly beach party on a tropical island. It explains how to reach the island by ferry or plane, which stretch of coast to sleep in and why that choice changes your night, what an entry ticket actually includes, and how to handle money, transport and safety once you are there. It also covers the quieter side of the island, the smaller parties worth knowing about, and how far ahead to book. Read it before you book flights, not after.
What the Full Moon Party actually is
It is a beach party on Haad Rin, at the southern tip of Koh Phangan, held on the night of the full moon. There is no festival site with a weekend pass. The beach bars each run their own sound system, the sand fills with people, and it runs until sunrise.
The date moves every month, and it is not purely astronomical. The Haad Rin Business Association sets the calendar, and it shifts a party by a day when the date clashes with a major Buddhist holiday. The published 2026 calendar lists 28 August, 26 September, 27 October, 24 November, 24 December and 31 December, the last one as a New Year countdown (ThaiTrav).
Confirm the date on the official site before you book anything, because a one day shift breaks a tight trip.
Entry is ฿200 in cash at the booths on the road down to the beach, and you get a wristband for the night (official Full Moon Party site). There is no advance ticket and no official app. Anyone selling you a ticket online is running a scam.
The beach itself is Haad Rin, also called Sunrise Beach, on a peninsula that hangs off the island’s southern tip. Everything around it, the road in, the 7-Eleven, the guesthouses, the bars on the hill, exists to serve that one night a month.
How to get to Koh Phangan
You reach the island by boat, and there are two practical starting points: Surat Thani on the mainland, or Koh Samui next door. There is no bridge, so every route ends in a ferry or a speedboat to Thong Sala pier.
From Koh Samui, ferries leave from Nathon, Lipa Noi and Maenam. Raja Ferry charges ฿170 per passenger for the Samui to Phangan crossing and takes about 90 minutes (Raja Ferry fares). Catamarans and speedboats on the same route run ฿300 to ฿500 and cut the crossing to 30 to 60 minutes.
From Surat Thani, the mainland port is Donsak, roughly an hour from Surat Thani town and the airport. Raja Ferry sails Donsak to Thong Sala from ฿220, and the crossing takes about 2 hours 30 minutes (BusOnlineTicket).
Joint minibus plus ferry tickets from the airport or the train station cost ฿490 to ฿860 depending on who you book with, and the whole door to door run takes 4 to 9 hours.
| Route | Mode | Time | Typical one way fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Koh Samui to Thong Sala | Raja Ferry | About 1h30 | ฿170 |
| Koh Samui to Thong Sala | Catamaran or speedboat | 30 to 60 minutes | ฿300 to ฿500 |
| Donsak (Surat Thani) to Thong Sala | Raja Ferry | About 2h30 | From ฿220 |
| Surat Thani airport or train station | Minibus plus ferry | 4 to 9 hours | ฿490 to ฿860 |
| Bangkok to Surat Thani | Overnight bus or sleeper train | Overnight | Bus from ฿750 |
Two things to get right. Book your ferry out for the day after the party, not the morning after, because nothing about that morning goes to plan. And if you are splitting the trip between islands, sort the Koh Samui leg first, since flights and rooms there set the shape of the whole route.
Where to stay relative to Haad Rin
Where you sleep decides how much of the night you actually enjoy. Haad Rin is the party beach, Ban Tai is the compromise, and the north and west coasts are a different island.
Haad Rin. You walk to the party in five minutes and walk home at 4am. The price is noise, and a room shortage. Dorms near the beach start around ฿400 a night on party dates, and budget private rooms run ฿800 to ฿1,500.
Book weeks ahead, not days.
Ban Tai. A few kilometres north of Haad Rin on the same coast. Cheaper rooms, a backpacker crowd, and songthaews running the main road late on party night. This is the middle option if you want the party without four days of it.
Thong Sala. The port town, where your ferry lands. The best food market on the island, the easiest onward transport, and a short ride from Haad Rin.
The north and west. Sri Thanu, Haad Yao, Chaloklum and Thong Nai Pan. Quiet beaches, yoga, cheap long stays. If you base here, treat the Full Moon Party as one long night out: a songthaew each way and a slow morning after.
For the trade-offs between dorms, guesthouses and resorts on the island, Festival Accommodations Compared sets out what you get at each price.
What the night actually involves
You spend the night walking one beach, from bar to bar, with a bucket in your hand and paint on your skin. It is not a seated festival with a stage timetable. The beach is the venue, and the sound changes every few hundred metres as you move along it.
The road down to Haad Rin is where the night starts. Booths collect the ฿200 entry in cash and hand you a wristband. Vendors sell UV paint for ฿100 to ฿200, and the queues build from about 9pm.
On the sand, each bar runs its own system, so you get a mix of house, techno and chart music bleeding into each other. The drink of the night is the bucket: a small plastic pail with local spirits, a mixer and a can of energy drink, usually ฿150 to ฿250. Cans of beer run ฿80 to ฿150.
Street food stalls sit at the back of the beach, so you can eat for ฿60 to ฿120 without leaving.
Two practical notes. The crowd peaks after midnight and the beach is still full at sunrise, so plan to sleep on the island rather than catching a boat home. And wear something on your feet, because the sand carries broken glass by 2am.
The other parties worth knowing about
Three other events matter, and they are inland rather than on the beach. The Half Moon Festival, the Jungle Experience and the waterfall parties all run in the trees and clearings around Ban Tai, on their own monthly or twice monthly schedules.
The Half Moon Festival is the biggest of them, with a proper stage, a large electronic lineup and a crowd that comes specifically for the music. The Jungle Experience runs in a clearing among the palms, smaller and later, and it is the one regulars tend to rate higher than the beach for sound.
Both are ticketed, so you pay on top of your beach entry.
Two things to know before you plan around them. Their dates move more than the Full Moon Party’s, so check locally or online once you are on the island. And they are not walking distance from Haad Rin, so a songthaew or taxi each way is part of the night.
If you are on the island for a week, this is the better way to spend it: one Full Moon night, plus a Half Moon or a jungle party on a different night, rather than four consecutive beach nights.
What a Full Moon Party trip costs
The night itself is cheap and the bed is not. Entry is ฿200, a bucket is the price of two coffees at home, and the real money goes on accommodation, which surges on party dates.
Published 2026 cost guidance puts a typical party-night spend at ฿1,500 to ฿4,200 per person once drinks, food, paint and transport are counted. Add your ferry legs on top: ฿170 to ฿500 each way from Koh Samui, or from ฿220 from Donsak, each way.
| Item | Typical 2026 cost |
|---|---|
| Entry, cash at the gate | ฿200 |
| Beer | ฿80 to ฿150 |
| Alcohol bucket | ฿150 to ฿250 |
| Bottled water | ฿30 to ฿50 |
| Street food meal | ฿60 to ฿120 |
| Restaurant main dish | ฿150 to ฿300 |
| UV and body paint | ฿100 to ฿200 |
| Shared songthaew ride | ฿100 to ฿200 |
| Dorm bed on party dates | ฿400 to ฿800 |
The cheapest version of this trip is a dorm in Ban Tai, a shared songthaew, and street food. The expensive versions are a resort on the peninsula and a taxi home at 5am. Work out your own numbers with Travel Budget Planning: Tips & Tools before you book anything.
Safety, and the bucket-drink problem
The main risks are drink spiking, night swimming, the fire ropes and rented scooters, not the crowd. Plan for those four and the night is manageable.
The bucket is the first problem. You are drinking spirits poured from unlabelled bottles, mixed in a pail you will put down at some point during the night. If you lose sight of it, leave it.
Sealed cans are safer, and if you want a bucket, split one between two people and keep it in your hand.
The sea at night is the second. People still swim after a long night on the sand and drown, so stay out of the water once you have been drinking. The fire skipping ropes are run by amateurs rather than professionals, and rope burns are one of the most common injuries of the night.
Watch from a distance instead of joining in.
Thailand’s drug penalties are severe, undercover officers have worked this beach for years, and a search at the party can end a trip. Carry a copy of your passport rather than the original, leave the rest in a room safe, and keep cash in a zip pocket. The tourist police run an English-speaking line on 1155.
Scooters are the last risk, and the one most likely to put you in hospital. Roads on the island are steep and unlit, and a rental bike plus alcohol is a bad combination. If you plan to ride at all, check that your travel insurance covers motorbikes, because many policies exclude them without a motorcycle licence.
For the wider picture, Solo Festival Attendance: Tips and Safety covers getting home at night in a place you do not know.
Koh Phangan beyond the party
Away from Haad Rin, the island is quiet beaches, jungle trails and yoga retreats, and most visitors end up staying longer than they planned.
Head north and west for the swimming: Haad Yao, Haad Salad, Mae Haad with its sandbar out to Koh Ma at low tide, plus Bottle Beach and Thong Nai Pan, which are reached by boat or a steep road. Inland you have the Than Sadet national park, Phaeng Waterfall and the climb up Khao Ra.
Thong Sala’s night market is the best cheap meal on the island, and Sri Thanu is the wellness strip, with yoga studios and massage places charging a fraction of resort prices.
Day trips cover Ang Thong Marine Park, plus Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan for snorkelling and diving.
The seasons matter more than most people expect. The dry season runs roughly December to April and the wetter months from May to November, with October and November the heaviest. Book rooms and ferry seats weeks ahead for party dates, and treat the 31 December party as the fixed point of the year, because it is the busiest night on the calendar.
So the party is one night, and the rest of the week is why people stay. If you want to spend it well, start with Discover Koh Phangan: Beyond the Party and build your days around the coast, not the beach.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Full Moon Party cost to get into?
It is ฿200 per person, paid in cash at the booths on the road down to Haad Rin, and it includes a wristband for the night. Bring small notes, because the booths are cash only.
When is the next Full Moon Party?
The published 2026 schedule runs 26 September, 27 October, 24 November, 24 December and 31 December. Dates shift by a day when they clash with Buddhist holidays, so reconfirm on the official site before you book ferries.
Do I need to buy a ticket in advance?
No. There is no official online ticket, and every presale offer is a scam. Book your room weeks ahead instead, because beds on the Haad Rin peninsula sell out first.
Where should first timers stay?
Haad Rin if you want to walk home from the beach, Ban Tai if you want cheaper rooms and a short songthaew ride. Basing on Koh Samui means catching a morning ferry back with the same crowd.
Is Koh Phangan worth visiting outside the party?
Yes, and the island is quieter and cheaper without it. The north and west coasts have the better swimming beaches, and room prices fall away from the full moon dates.
Image credits
- Photo: Christophe95 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source
- Photo: Per Meistrup / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source
- Photo: Fabio Achilli from Milano, Italy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Source
- Photo: Renek78 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source
Works Cited
“Official Full Moon Party.” Full Moon Party Thailand, Haad Rin Business Association, 2026, www.fullmoonpartythailand.com/.
“Full Moon Party Thailand: Koh Phangan Dates 2026-2028.” ThaiTrav, 2026, thaitrav.com/full-moon-party-koh-phangan-dates/.
“Fare Rates: Koh Samui to Koh Phangan.” Raja Ferry Port, Raja Ferry Public Company Limited, 2026, www.rajaferryport.com/fare?route=fare-koh-samui-koh-phangan.
“Raja Ferry: Donsak to Koh Phangan Ferry.” BusOnlineTicket.co.th, 2026, www.busonlineticket.co.th/th/ferry/raja-ferry-port/.