Thailand Nightlife – What to Do and Where to Go at Night in Thailand

Back to Koh Phangan and the ‘Full Moon Party’.

“Possibly the greatest party on Earth”, according to Maxim Magazine, ‘The Full Moon Party’ on Koh Phangan, Thailand is the only place on Earth you can go out, get laid, go to sleep, wake up a few hours later and get laid again. When I first read the article (five years before I ever set foot in Thailand) I thought to myself, wow, really? I tried figuring out what the island would look like and where you would sleep; in my mind it was a tiny island with no hotels on it, just a lush, tropical, deserted island – with no facilities.

Turns out I was a bit wrong on what the island itself looks like but, one thing holds true, it’s quite possibility the best place on Earth to have a one night stand. I mentioned the first time I went to the party I hooked up with an English girl and then ended up with a Thai girlfriend for the rest of the week. Well, I didn’t learn my lesson and have been back quite a few more times. To me, the FMP is an escape from my daily life of training Muay Thai and MMA, or scuba diving when I was working in that field. While everyone else on Koh Tao went out every night until 2 in the morning, I was in bed by 10 p.m. I hardly ever hooked up on Koh Tao even though it was an island full of young backpacker tourists. The few times I did, it was the same story as everyone else: I went out to a bar to pre-party, moved down to the beach to watch the Thai guys spinning fire, while also moving on to harder liquor fueled by Red Bull and Thai whiskey. We’d party until 3 or 4 in the morning – sometimes even staying up to watch the sunrise – and then, in a drunken state, I’d pull a girl back to my room and hookup. Then the next day, I’d feel like shit and have to go to work.

So, instead of doing that on a daily basis, which quite a few people I know did, I saved it all up to go all out – once a month or once every two months – at the Full Moon Party. To be honest, I don’t remember all the girls I hooked up with but I do remember that, most of the time, it wasn’t on the full moon night itself but on the nights leading up to the big party. The problem with the FMP is you get so wasted every night you are there, that the nights end up blurring together; by the end of it you remember next to nothing. Girls love the experience just as much as guys and it’s truly a freeing experience to live a hedonistic lifestyle – even for one night. I specifically remember one girl I hooked up with; she was the first Russian girl I had ever been with. She had a really pretty face (and a fantastic body) but hardly spoke any English. We met on the beach dancing. It was my first night on the island 3 nights before the actual Full Moon Party. She was wearing a dress and dancing seductively with me on the sand near the water. We started kissing under the moonlight and our hands started to wander. Suddenly, I found my hands between her thighs, and felt the warmth of her.

I was hesitant at first, but I could sense that she didn’t want me to stop, so I allowed my fingers inside of her. Everything else was a blur – we were both lost in the moment – and didn’t notice the thousands of other people dancing around us. I ended up taking her hand and leading her towards a hotel that I had stayed it previously, knowing there were secluded spots not easily seen. We ended up on someone’s first floor balcony – away from the crowds and music – I took off her panties and entered her. It sounds romantic, I know, two strangers from opposite sides of the world only able to communicate through our emotions and sex, making love in a public place just 100 meters away from the party. But, you know, it wasn’t romantic at all. It was exciting, sure, but I was also dehydrated beyond belief and drunk (more than I would like to admit).

I ended up stopping half way through, and telling her I desperately needed water. At that point I felt more dehydrated than I ever had in my life; having sex with her was like running a marathon through arid desert heat – I felt like I was going to collapse at any point. I tried to hand back her panties (a lacey black thong that I still remember) but she gave me a wicked smile and told me to leave it – a little surprise for whoever was staying there that night. We went back to the party, got a bottle of water and danced for a bit more before deciding to leave. I started walking her back to her bungalow, which was quite far from the beach. Rehydrated yet feeling incomplete I ended up pulling her into the back of a coffee shop that was open-air and unlocked. We lay on the ground and continued our little session until we were both completely satisfied. Afterwards I walked her to her room where I kissed her goodbye. My last memory of my little Russian doll was her smiling and lifting up her skirt – to remind me she still wasn’t wearing any panties – as she snuck back into her room. That night I was exhausted and completely happy but the very next day I felt a void.

The problem with drunken one night stands is that it’s really not that satisfying. You have flash backs of images and memories but that’s really about it. Over the course of the next few days I was hoping to bump into her again but with thousands of people arriving on the island everyday it wasn’t likely. I even tried to retrace my steps to look for where I had dropped her off but, for the life of me, I couldn’t find the room again. Maybe it was for the best, or maybe if I hadn’t been so drunk, I would have made a plan with her for the next day. Who knows what she would have wanted? Maybe, in her mind, she was simply happy with the random one night stand with the guy she met on the beach. Aside from the Russian beauty there were others but, to be honest, I can’t recall much about them. Most of the time it didn’t lead to full sex however, it was just kissing and making out. I remember one night I met a German girl, a stunningly beautiful girl, who was in Thailand working on a project for her Master’s degree.

We met early in the night, before we both started drinking, and hung out for hours after. I don’t know why but I couldn’t figure her out. I never made a move on her as I had no idea if the other guy she was traveling with was just her coworker or a love interest. I was definitely attracted to her but, then, the craziest thing happened. Another German girl, who looked like she could be her twin, came along and started chatting with us. They both looked at each other and before leaving the ‘twin’ kisses me good bye. But it wasn’t just a peck, it was a full-on romantic kiss, one that felt like it lasted a few minutes, all while the girl I was with stood right beside us. It had felt like I had finally kissed the girl I had been attracted to all night but, at the same time, it wasn’t her – it was like kissing a clone.

Stranger things have happened, especially when it comes to kissing during the craziness of the Full Moon Party. I still remember the first Swedish girl I kissed. I wasn’t that drunk yet and vividly remember how beautiful she was. She was a natural platinum blonde with highlights from the sun, in her early twenties with striking blue eyes but clearly she wasn’t the best listener in the world. She had approached me with her friend and a random Thai guy and asked if I was Thai. I told her I was American but I’ve been living in Thailand for a while now and the Swedish beauty responded, “I’ve always wanted to kiss a Thai guy.” Turns out that Thai guy (who was actually with her friend) was their tattoo artist and she too wanted an ‘authentic’ Thai guy of her own. Quite obviously I wasn’t but I guess, in her mind, she thought I was close enough! She then kissed me, and it was amazing. It was like kissing a mythical unicorn for the first time. She was beautiful, flawless even, and she wouldn’t be the last girl that would kiss me thinking I was Thai.