Koh Phangan Travel Information

Phangan island has been a regular stopping point on the international backpackers world tour for over ten years now and has now become synonymous with the full-moon parties on Haad Rin. These monster raves take place every month and have become world famous, attacting up to ten thousand revelers each time. However, it should be remembered that Haad Rin is just one small slice of island's shoreline.

Koh Phangan is just 12-kilometers north of Samui and has always been in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbor. There is no airport and no big resorts or hotels, and with population of only 8,000 it could be overlooked by most visitors to Samui were it not for its notorious parties. As Samui has forged a path towards becoming an up-market, international standard destination. Phangan seems to have picked up the backpacker and budget market as well as becoming increasingly attractive to other travelers who have not found the changes to Samui quite to their tastes. The island has evolved into two separate sections; Hadd Rin and everywhere else. Haad Rin has become a traveler's hangout and party center kind of international backpacker ghetto, whilst the other beaches are tropical hideaways - laid back retreats with almost unspoilt beaches an stunning vistas.

The beach are really worth spending some time on and the island has long been famed within Thailand for its extraordinary beauty. King Chulalongkorn (Rama IV) was a regular visitor and he carved his initials into more than one of the island's rocks.