It’s approaching sundown on a full moon Saturday, but revellry is in short supply in Haad Rin, home of Koh Phangan’s legendary Full Moon Party.
The deserted streets of this small town are a study in neglect, an impression brought cruelly into focus by the ongoing global pandemic.
Shabby shops offering cheap Thai massages or advertising bamboo tattoos are shuttered, their doors fastened by heavy chains.
The only things missing from the eerie scene are giant balls of tumbleweed: not a possibility in this verdant tropical paradise.
On a typical full moon night before the coronavirus pandemic, the bars that line Haad Rin beach on this Thai island would already be packed with partygoers soaking up the sunset in anticipation of a long night of block-rocking beats and potent cocktails served in buckets.
