Being home to several large dance parties every month, Koh Phangan can be either a hedonist’s heaven or a holiday hell, outlined below is some sensible advice for people visiting the island.

When attending any of the parties on the island you should always keep a few things in mind. Remember that this is not your home country, the law here protects the Thai people, as a ‘farang’ (westerner) you have significantly reduced rights. Take for example an auto accident, let’s say you are driving your rented jeep up a steep hill, coming towards you is a sand truck, and it fails to brake and collides with your jeep. Clearly the fault of the truck driver yes? He was going far too fast down a steep hill, not your fault at all right? Wrong, in Thailand the law is simple, if a farang is involved in an auto accident with a Thai person then regardless of who did what to cause the accident it is your fault. Why is that? Simple logic applies, you are a farang, you should not be here, and if you were not here the accident would never have happened thus it is your fault. I joke not.

Always remember that the island of Koh Phangan relies upon the tourist trade as its main source of income. Not a problem in itself, where the problem starts is with the less than honest people who are just waiting to take advantage of you should you give them the opportunity. Each month there are dozens of new stories involving some stupid farang who got far too drunk on Haad Rin beach, fell asleep and lost everything they had in their pockets to one of the professional pick pockets who cruise the parties looking for likely prey. You would be amazed at how many party goers decide it is safer to carry their passport, credit cards and plane tickets in their pockets than leave them in a security box. That pretty Thai girl (who probably wasn’t actually a girl) that just came up and gave you a kiss at a party, did her hand go anywhere near your pockets? It happens; in fact it happens every month to many people, keep your wits about you.

Drinking and driving, just don’t do it. So you think you can drive when you have had a skin full? OK fine, off you go on your scooter with no crash helmet or protective clothing. Even a low speed crash whilst wearing a pair of shorts and sandals is terribly painful. Take it from me, somebody who knows, only a few short weeks ago I launched my Honda CBR onto the beach at 2am after drinking far more than was safe. I didn’t walk for two weeks and I consider myself lucky, people die here every year due to drink driving, many are injured each month and have to cut their holiday short.

Don’t upset the locals. I don’t mean the lady who is cooking your food or the guy who is pumping you gasoline. I mean the kind of locals who consider themselves ‘mafia’ and make a hugely successful living ripping off tourists. These are not nice people and this is not a movie, there are many suspicious deaths on the island every year. Although these people are wise enough to realise they cannot go too far as they depend on the tourists as much as anyone else, if you give them a reason then they will give you trouble. On the surface Koh Phangan appears to be a tranquil paradise island, in reality it is a small piece of valuable land that has more in common with the Wild West than a civilised city. Almost everything here is controlled by certain key families, including the police, tread carefully; the illusion of safety is just that, an illusion.

If you maintain your self control, don’t take foolish risks and remember that you are not in your native country then you will have no problems upon Koh Phangan. If you push the envelope a little too much a world of hurt could be waiting for you. I don’t want to make Koh Phangan appear to be unsafe, almost all of the stories I hear involve somebody doing something stupid, the problem is they are doing something stupid in a place that has no safety net. Remember that and take care when you are visiting the island.