Koh Phangan - Not just a Party Island Anymore

A long time ago, six years to be precise, Phanganist.com was born from the creative womb of CEO Sharon Kahati.

Brought into the world wide web, representing the neon colours and music of Koh Phangan, Phanganist was a newborn baby showing the rest of the world the party island in paradise.

We took photos at the parties, wrote about the parties, partied at the parties, listed when the parties were happening and spoke to the djs playing at the parties.

But over the years as any human beings will know, it can’t just all be about partying…

It’s been a natural move to start to cover the whole of Koh Phangan, not just the parties. The island was well known for its moon parties and hippy lifestyle but it is also much more than that.

Now we bring you the best of both worlds, in fact the best of all of the worlds here as we try our damn hardest to show off this magical crystal island and its positive activities, people, nature and energy which still includes these famous parties of course.

The Tourist Association of Koh Phangan also want to spread the word to the world that Phangan is not just a party island.

Whilst you’re relaxing on the beach or by the pool, partaking in some chakra bending yoga classes, rising to the higher plains with meditation, surfing the turquoise waves or diving with the tropical fish beneath them, this team are working to the bone to keep the economy alive, organise healthy celebratory activities for the community and to keep visiting tourists safe, plus many other things that benefit the island and promote Phangan as more than just a Full Moon Party.

Koh Phangan is a perfect package and Fred from Chaloklum Diving reminds us that;

‘You can find everything here on Koh Phangan. I’m forty four years old and have never seen a place like this though I have been travelling a lot’.

Fred organises diving packages on Koh Phangan but he has explained to us that it helps greatly as the island offers so much more.

You can come initially to do a diving course but then enjoy a nice holiday in a beautiful resort in the tranquil North of the island or if you’re on more of a budget, rent a bungalow and drive around and explore.

You can join in with some yoga and widen your mind and consciousness with teachings at a spiritual school in Sri Thanu or learn to cook Thai food with a cookery course.

Even if you come here with no particular purpose, you will find something that suits you.

Koh Phangan is becoming much more well known for its good quality underground House music scene with international djs being booked at all of the parties which accelerates its reputation above just the neon army and bucket culture of Full Moon.

With the lovely Marco Loco joining us on Phangan on a more permanent basis from Ibiza and djs such as Alle Farben, MUUI, Anthony Attalla, Daniel Sanchez and the underground Berlin crew coming over to our tiny island to play, Phangan must be getting whispered about on the dancefloors around the globe and has got a thriving sound going on.

The djs are coming and the parties are continuing but it’s not all play, many of the djs we interview talk of Phangan as being a great source of inspiration for producing music and the island boasts local record labels like Moon Island and Magic Phangan so that local and international djs can work together whilst they’re here.

Koh Phangan really is a great inspiration to many people, people grow, change and realise things about themselves they never knew before, some people come to the island and don’t go to a single party at all.

You will see families enjoying the activities here, parents and their children wandering round the food market or enjoying a trip on a boat to the marine park.

Koh Phangan also now boasts an international tutorial school where children from all around the world intergrate with each other and then enjoy the freedom of the beach with their friends after class.

Romantic couples, falling even more in love with each other, thanks to a surrounding of jungle and paradise’s natural wonder. Being able to relax and switch off from their everyday lives back home.

Koh Phangan can cater to it all but without being too bold and showing off about it.

But maybe we should show off more! But in a nice humble, thai style, magical island way of course.

Before the parties began the local people of Koh Phangan were here, farming their coconuts and producing the phenomenon to all of us westerners that is coconut oil and the healing water, farming honey from the bees, sustainably fishing for squid and other seafood and enjoying a simple peaceful life which is passed down generation by generation and so may it continue.

It’s the people of the island we have to thank for all of this.

Their delicious food which is cooked all over Phangan for us to try, their permission to come and join them in their simple being and their openness to our strange ways to be included on their island home, our weird music, bendy postures, obsession with going underwater, our different tastes in food and the need to sunbathe and go brown whilst they hide and keep cool from the afternoon sun.

We’ll leave you with some words on the subject from the man himself, Sharon;

‘This is one of the things that make Koh Phangan unique compared to the other beautiful places in Thailand.

You can find here a big variety of different activities from entertainment, spiritual, diving, watersports, other sports or just sunbathing and to come and relax.

You have locations on the island which are very busy, each one for a different part of the month and then some as quiet as being in one of the most deserted places in the world, just you, the beach and the nature around you’.

We hope you have been enjoying keeping up with what we cover here at Phanganist, from everything to do with health, food, yoga, diving, art, jewelry, music, thai culture and more. We will continue our quest to show all that is good and positive on this majestic little island we call home.

So remember Phanganists, Koh Phangan is more than just a party island...