The Vision
How it Began
The Full Moon Party began in the 1980s as a small and harmonious pow-wow amongst a handful of travelers on the roads less traveled in the 1980s. In recent decades, this 3 day monthly event has now transformed the Southern Thai island of Koh Phangan into a backpackers right of passage. In pre-pandemic times, the monthly rave would attract up to 30,000 visitors on a single night, which all took place on the 400-meter stretch of Haad Rin's white sand beach.
One cannot deny the almost inevitable fate of paradise lost, especially for a rural community faced with the growth of mass travel over the last few decades. Haad Rin has become another playground for those seeking a unique and inexpensive experience, which is exactly how the event is advertised to them around the globe. Corporate Companies have found a way to directly market the event towards young school leavers and party-goers around the world through cheap travel packages.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic changed everything
The sudden interruption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the opportunity for all of us to reassess the world we live in. A hard reset button was pushed. With borders in lockdown, worldwide quarantines and isolation periods, Nature has flourished. The seas are cleaner, destruction to the environment halted and air is less polluted. People now understand that if we make less of a footprint, the world will be all the better for it.
We want to be be better than yesterday. We need to be creative. Creativity & the arts bring value to local communities through creative economy. Not only it beautifies the landscape, it brings in quality people and expands the local mindsets. Artists and families flock to Haad Rin once again. The space flourishes and everybody become a better human being. Life worth living for.
A rebranded Full Moon party - Local crowds singing and playing live music gather around a fire pit to celebrate the Full Moon cycle in a rebranded Full Moon Party "Back to the Roots" in front of Tommy Resort on Haad Rin beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand. March 2021.
Local Support
A large number of local business owners on Haad Rin have expressed support for an improvement of the Full Moon Party. With support of the environmental impact and safety concerns, the newer generation of Haad Rin business owners, sons and daughters alongside with local foreigners who made this island home, are taking the helm and pushing for change.
Our Goals
Eco & Nature Mindfulness: Methods of protecting the environment by minimizing one-time use products and resulting plastic waste into the environment. Apart from educating the local community, the local Haad Rin organizational unit provides a workforce and equipment to regularly clean the beach. Furthermore, a number of business owners in the community (hopefully more will grow) have been striving to clean its' operations and change its ways to be more mindful to the local natural environment.
Safety: Organizing a safe zone for people to enjoy, through various government and business support by implementing security & safety plans.
Growth of Art & Creativity: Art creates a creativity economy, and in turn enriches the local community. Art creates value, a healthier form of tourism is created, land prices goes up, higher level of awareness within the community increases, the economy grow and businesses becomes sustainable. Creativity also works in a positive tandem with nature. Everyone benefits!