Full Moon Party Debauchery

We were excited for the full moon party beyond words, and hopeful that we would survive. We were even more excited because 3 of our friends from medical school, Harold, Brian, and Jeff, were also in Thailand for the full moon party. We had hoped to meet up in Bangkok, but lack of phone service prevented that. They came for a pre-party at our hotel, also decked out in full moon attire, and equipped with some neon paint and a do-it-yourself bucket. We of course always like to hang out with these friends, but the thought of meeting up in Thailand to hang out at a party with thousands of other people was almost surreal. At 10:30, with a proper buzz going, we hopped into an open air taxi and headed out.

Meditating to the full moon gods. We went picture crazy once there were others around to take photos of us. 

Full Moon Party: Doctor Style

 The real deal was much bigger and better than our dress rehearsal night. The excitement started even before the entrance point, where they collected 100 baht cover and gave you a souvenir FMP wrist band, not like the cheapies that US clubs give. We went into a bar to use the facilities before being stuck on the beach with less options. I paid my 10 baht fee for the bathroom, and my friends waited for their turn as well. Lucila came out last with two good stories already. 1: She is apparently attracted to the hole in the ground toilets, since she walked past the real toilet for tourists and used the local shit hole. 2: While locating the shit hole, she went into a completely wrong door and found a tied up pig, the bacon for the morning. Lucila, the animal lover, stopped to show him some love before he would be butchered. We found more neon paint left on the side of the road, and started to decorate ourselves since the festive nature of the party around us was contagious. I gave myself some smiley knees and Danielle a pink mustache.

We bought 2 buckets for the 4 of us girls, plus some beers from the boys knowing that they would be much more expensive in the party. The beach was pure debauchery and only got better the further you walked. There were of course stands selling buckets every 2 feet. There were also walls set up to advertise the many designs you could have painted on you, and blacklights to make them look extra enticing. I got a sleeve of flames after seeing how cool Harold's looked. Lucila got a batman (nerd) and Jeff got some girly flowers (which he called lotuses instead). There were many DJs going at once down the beach. We had dance parties in the sand and on top of tables. We have pictures and videos to remind us how much fun all of us had dancing.

We continued down the beach laughing at a sectioned off area of the beach with a sign that read "SLEEP AREA" and of course, several napping people inside.

 Next, we saw what we were waiting for, the FIRE JUMP ROPE!!! Two Thai men set it ablaze and the crowd quickly gathered round. I whipped out my camera not wanting to miss people burning themselves in the fire. Pure entertainment. The first brave full mooner jumped in, and after 2 jumps got caught in the fire rope, toppled over and quickly moved away. Then the second brave person stepped in, same result. It was simple to see the cause of these burns, bad rhythm? nope. Intoxication? nope. It was the 2 Thai men spinning the rope! Because as soon as you jumped in, they would quicken the speed of the rope to ensure both the jumper a wound of a souvenir as well as a good show. I know longer thought the full mooners were brave, just stupid. Every time there was a lull in my video, I encouraged those around me to give it a try. Only strangers though, I wouldn't let any of my friends go in, even if they wanted to. In 60 seconds of video I saw at least 5 victims of the fire rope. Sadly, I accidentally deleted this epic video the next day, thinking it was a bad picture and not a video. Luckily, 2 of my other friends got it on camera as well.

 The rest of the night was more buckets and more dancing. Lucila found a tall man and made him her boyfriend of the full moon. I have some pretty passionate pictures to prove it. They sat on the beach staring into the ocean and each others eyes as I walked by over and over offering sips of my bucket. I'm not sure how many buckets I had but by the end of the night I had spent all of my money and had to borrow for the 100 baht ride home. I can't forget to mention the line of about 10 guys peeing into the ocean at once. Danielle was pretty grossed out when she saw a picture the next day of her standing in that water... When the taxi dropped us off at our hotel it was 6AM. While Lucila and Danielle went to pass out Rachel and I went on a hunt for In-N-Out. Not really but it would have been bomb. We settled for crunchips instead atof the only open convenience store. Pass out. Wake up at 2pm. Thanks for a great time FMP!!!

Someone else has a picture of this from the back. A THONG!