Weeks of planning had gone in so that our trip to Koh Panghan would fit in perfectly with the most famous of all beach parties, The Full Moon Party.

As anybody who knows ant will tell you, he loves a good party, so we arrived with time to spare, filled our tummys and found a bar. At six o'clock the streets of Had Rin where deserted so we sat in a small bar, fitted with comfy floor mats and waited. As time went by the streets filled with party goers, police and the many Thais selling bits and bobs of useles aluminusnes (sure as anything we bought loads).

Walking on to the beach was pretty breathtaking - two young lads spun their fire sticks and poy into a frenzi (god only knows how they didnt burn themselves). The whole beach slowly became rammed with party people all lookng for a good time, some suceeding and others not. The Full Moon drink of choice was the Sang Song Bucket. This leathal cocktail consists of a small bottle of thai rum, a can of coke, a bottle of super stong red bull all mixed in a sand bucket with lots of ice and lots of straws. The intention of this drink is probably to share with friends but the reality is something quite different - when people get drunk, they get greedy! Therfore you can imagine, there where alot of very very drunk people.

The music ranged from cheese to tecno so the people trended to range from strange to absolute weirdos, but all in all everybody wanted to have fun. We sung, we danced, we rolled in the sand but all the time were a aware of a slight sinister undercurrent. Where there are drunks there are people who will try and take advantage, so as a rule we tried to stay with at least another buddy. As there were 7 of us that wasnt too hard although we all did get a little lost at one time or another.

This party can only be discribed as mayhem. Great for all those hardcore ravers and probably for groups of lads, and allthough in the end we did have a realy good time it wasnt really our cup of tea. It was a great experience and we're definatly lucky to be able to say that we've experienced it but i cant say we'll be rushing back. The reality of the party is not quite what you expect. Hundreds of people walking around lost and disorientated, fire balls twirly in the corner of your eyes, people being sick in their buckets, hundreds of people peeing in the sea - Not Nice. It is said that every month about 6 people die at The Full Moon Party, and that isnt too hard to believe! Dont get me wrong, we had no extra scary experiences, but this is definatly the a place you need to keep your sensible head on.

A party is what you make of it and in our case we were lucky as we were in good company and we all looked after one and other. Time seemed to fly and when the sun rose there were still hundreds of people clustered together, here and there trying to comprehend all that had happened. Absolute madness!! Giggles really set in when you realise how small the world really is as the couple sleeping in the sand next to you wake up and tell you they live up the road from you back home.

So at 10am we strolled back to our beautiful heaven at Smile Beach, thankfully miles away from Had Rin. And as we lay in our nice comfy bed, fully clothed and caked in aluminous paint, we repeated, "Absolute Mayhem!!!"