This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel. We share our insider knowledge of tips, tricks and important things to look out for in Koh Phangan.
Guess what? Koh Phangan is also named and spelled Ko Pha Ngan - It is the same destination. Goodbye confusion.
Ko Phangan is a beautiful island located in the Samui archipelago (comprised of three islands -– Ko Samui, Ko Phangan, and Ko Tao), on the gulf coast in the south part of Thailand. Ko Phangan is well known internationally for having the best full-moon parties in the world -– if you like to party, this is the place to be. It's very easy to get to this island, but only by boat -– there are a lot of ferries (the cheapest option) and speed boats daily from Ko Tao and Ko Samui that have a lot of connections to the main land (Ko Samui has also an airport with regular flights to main cities). On the mainland, Chumpon (by bus) and Surat Thani (by bus and plane) are the cities that assure you a lot of connections to Bangkok and other places in Southeast Asia.
If you like to party, check the date of the next full-moon party and organize your trip around this date -– the party occurs in Had Rin Beach (on these special dates, there are a lot of ferries that arrive here from the islands around) where there are a lot of bars serving drinks and playing music in a crazy atmosphere (every month this party is full of people from all over the world).
There are a lot of hostels in Ko Phangan Island that are clean and simple, but if you visit the island just for the full-moon party, you need to book your hostel in Ko Phangan in advance to assure vacancies –- there are a lot of people looking for accommodation at this time.
Written by local enthusiast for Koh Phangan hostels
Grace