Thailand - Full Moon Party - Help on lodging

Hi guys, a group of 6 of us are going to full moon party in april but have not found a place to stay. We want to stay nearby, not neccessarily walking distance but want to stay somewhere safe and on the higher end of the market 4/5*
Budget is about £500 for 2 nights

Can someone who has been also explain how long does the party go on for? what time usually it starts and finish? can you get transport from the island at any time say 3am?

If need be we would be willing to stay at a nearby island but don't really want to travel 30+ mins

thanks in advance

Taking a boat back over to Samui at 3AM is a total mess. The party will start up around 11 and go until sunrise. My advice is to find a place on Koh Phangan - or avoid the party all together.

Never been to one, and no desire to attend one but....

Don't the kids party until sunrise and then just lounge on the beach all day? Why would you need a place to stay? Bathe in the ocean, eat food from beach hawkers, wait for next party to start.

Personally I would be more worried about being drugged, robbed, burned and/or electrocuted.

There are no real high end places in Haad Rin. You can try Ban Tai but anywhere further than that I think is too far.

Most places in Haad Rin requires a 3 night minimum stay. That's when most people are there; the day before, the day of the party & the day after. I was just there in December and Haad Rin is like a ghost town on the non-party nights.

If you have the time, my advice would be to show up 2 days or so before the party and just look for a place. If you try to look up prices online, they will be greatly inflated.

Here is a good guide to the full moon party: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-full-moon-party/

I was flying from Koh Samui back to BKK last month on the day after a full moon party.
We didn't attend but did talk to a few of the Very hungover folks on the plane. They didn't manage to get all the paint off (what's up with the paint?) and they all said it was crazier than they thought it would be - kinda glad they did it but wouldn't do it again.

Also, taking boats in Thailand at night is really not a good idea, especially when drunk/high/etc. They have a bad enough safety record as it is, and travel at night distinctly worsens the odds, both of hitting something and not being rescued.

I am looking forward to FMP in August, I am having the same hotel issues as the OP, so I am either going to stay on another part of the island and get a taxi or hire a driver as my other option I guess. I just want to experience it once and also not get robbed, drugged, etc etc.

This is an incredibly popular event with the younger crowd. Any experience with Full Moon accommodations would certainly be a well read thread. Having never been there, I have no advice to offer.

You can stay pretty much anywhere on the island and be sure of making it to Haad Rin at night. Songthews ply all the routes around the island. In most cases its a matter of standing by the roadside for a taxi. And during the course of the night these same taxi's congregate in the town of Haad Rin waiting to be filled up to take you back.
I would not worry at all about accomadation there is ALWAYS rooms. In fact if you take the ferry over from Surat Thani there are always touts onboard the ferry or waiting when you step of the ferry with brochures of various resorts they are touting. Don't be discouraged by them, the prices are not hiked up.
You would be well advised to read up on the FMP and Ko phangan in general. There is a very darkside to the island.

All depends on your budget pal ... Seaview Bungalows Thansadet goes for around $15/night and it is listed as # 1 out of 78 hotels on Koh Phangan by tripadvisor while # 2, the Anantara Resort Koh Phangan goes for around $250/night. And as they say in Thailand, up to you!

Disclaimer: Never been there and have no intention of ever going there!

Disclaimer: Never been there and have no intention of ever going there!

Kal, I have never been either.... but

Full moon party aside, it is supposed to be a very beautiful destination.

I am interested in going.

Hope the OP had a great time at the FMP :D

We had a blast when a group of us went in 2007, we stayed at the Coral Bungalows. I was 27 back then and we were, yep, the "old" people there :o

Our Resort (yep I'll call it that for argument's sake) had a three night minimum stay around FMP weekends (just like most other resorts did). It wasn't a fancy-pants resort but the night before the actual FMP we had a pool party ;) and the whole island turned up and it went wild. The FMP was crazy in a wild way, I did not feel threatened or unsafe at any of the time, and nothing bad happened to me or any of my mates.

For those not interested in FMP ;) The island is beautiful and we rode scooters all around, definitely a nice place (and very different to say Phuket).

Hope the OP had a great time at the FMP :D

...

For those not interested in FMP ;) The island is beautiful and we rode scooters all around, definitely a nice place (and very different to say Phuket).

Beautiful indeed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/richroundtheworld/817808924/) ;)

Beautiful indeed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/richroundtheworld/817808924/) ;)
Good lord that looks terrible. My sister would love it. How does this compare to Vang Vieng? I'm actually somewhat interested in going to Vang Vieng.

There are no real high end places in Haad Rin. You can try Ban Tai but anywhere further than that I think is too far.

Most places in Haad Rin requires a 3 night minimum stay. That's when most people are there; the day before, the day of the party & the day after. I was just there in December and Haad Rin is like a ghost town on the non-party nights.

If you have the time, my advice would be to show up 2 days or so before the party and just look for a place. If you try to look up prices online, they will be greatly inflated.

Here is a good guide to the full moon party: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-full-moon-party/
Thanks so much for that link. Much to my great relief I was able to determine that there is no Full Moon Party anywhere near our trip dates to Koh Samui! :D