After a year long hiatus, can Thailand’s world-famous Full Moon Party recover, or will it evolve in the post-Covid-19 era? Before April last year, Haad Rin Beach on Koh Pha Ngan was invaded each full moon by backpackers and partygoers. The beach hummed to the thump, thump of the music and the buckets of exotic cocktails (and plenty of other substances) flowed freely.
The event draws up to 30,000 partiers every month now, after simple beginnings as a hippy beach gathering in the 1980s. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event has been on hold and some fear it may be the end of the line for the iconic party.
While the party has been a cash cow, attracting more than half of million-plus visitors to the island of Koh Pha Ngan each year, critics have become increasingly vocal about the downside of an event so large and so wild. Drugs, alcohol abuse, petty theft and…
