Ko Phangan has many other best-kept secrets. Apart from its white sandy beaches, crystal clear sea and the famous full moon party, the island is well-known among international tourists as the location for yoga teacher training.
KO PHANGAN – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in partnership with the Ko Phangan Hotels Association has organised the first Phangan Colour Moon Festival 2014, during 9-13 December, to showcase that the island is far more than a full moon party.
H.E. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports said, “The Phangan Colour Moon Festival 2014 is an initiative by the Ko Phangan Hotels Association in cooperation with the local public and private sectors to tell the world that the island has more to offer than just a full moon party. The event is also to mark the historical significance of the island as being a royal retreat of King Rama V the Great of Thailand (1868-1910), who paid 16 visits to the island. The island was also the location of the first Thai film, The Magic Ring.”
King Rama V the Great of Thailand spent holidays on Ko Phangan for 14 times plus two stopovers during 1888 – 1909. His royal pavilion, near the Thansadet Waterfall, remains and has been well-kept. He named all the island’s three waterfalls – Thansadet, Thanprapas and Thanprawet – and inscribed his royal initials on five stones nearby the waterfalls as memoirs of his royal visits. He also set free 2 couples of deer during one of his visits. From four deer, there are now about 1,000 deer living peacefully on the mountain, and are treated as sacred for they were set free by the king.
Ko Phangan has many other best-kept secrets. Apart from its white sandy beaches, crystal clear sea and the famous full moon party, the island is well-known among international tourists as the location for yoga teacher training. The island’s local way of life is also very unique as the local people are still adhering to ancient traditions in harvesting coconuts for commercial and household use, in the squid fishing industry and in producing one of the country’s finest shrimp pastes.
“Phangan Colour Moon Festival 2014 perfectly corresponds with TAT’s 2015 Discover Thainess campaign that emphasises the distinctive character of Thailand through the Thai way of life, Thai culture and Thai experiences,” said H.E. Kobkarn, who presided over the closing ceremony of the Phangan Colour Moon Festival 2014 as well as visited the island’s places of interest on 13 December.
Throughout the five days, Phangan Colour Moon Festival 2014 featured special activities and exhibitions on the island’s exceptional way of life, stage shows, a photo contest, local arts and crafts, local handmade products from coconut trees and shells, the first seafood floating market in the Gulf of Thailand, yoga and Thai kickboxing under the moonlight, and a bicycle activity under the ‘Phangan Bike for Better Life – Big Bike Rider to the Moon’ theme.
Ko Phangan welcomed more than 740,000 travellers in 2013, generating about eight billion Baht in revenue. Tourists spent on average 5.5 days on the island, which has a total of 7,820 rooms in various categories of accommodation establishments. The local public and private sectors expect the number of travellers to the island to rise to one million tourists within the next few years.
Photo caption: H.E. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul (middle) during her visit to Ko Phangan on 13 December, 2014.
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