The Full Moon Party is an all-night beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 party

Party

A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....

 that originated in Haad Rin

Haad Rin

Haad Rin is a peninsular beach area and town on the southern tip of Ko Pha Ngan, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. Its two main beaches are Sunset Beach to the south and the larger Sunrise Beach to the north...

 on the island of Ko Pha Ngan

Ko Pha Ngan

Ko Pha Ngan is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in South East Thailand. It is famous for its full moon party at Haad Rin Beach and as a backpackers destination. Ko Pha Ngan has two sister islands: the larger Ko Samui to the south and the smaller Ko Tao to the north.* Area: about 168 km²*...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 on the night before or after every full moon

Full moon

Full moon lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun.Lunar eclipses can only occur at...

.

The first Full Moon Party was improvised at a wooden disco not far from the beach in 1985 for giving thanks to about 20-30 travelers. They quickly gained fame through word of mouth, and the event now draws a crowd of about 20,000-30,000 every full moon evening. The party carries on until the sun rises the next day. The bars on the sunrise beach of Haad Rin town stay open and play music such as R&B, drum and bass

Drum and bass

Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...

, house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

, dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

.

The modern event has become a part of the itinerary of many travelers to Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. It is characterized by unruly and potentially dangerous attractions such as fire skipping ropes, wildly variable alcohol strength 'buckets', and a drug culture. It is seen by many as the "ultimate party experience", although drug laws are still strict, and police enforcement is stepped up during the parties.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of gang assaults, rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

s, and murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

s at the party and in bars in the surrounding area, eventually leading the British government to officially warn tourists to avoid the Full Moon Parties altogether.

The Full Moon Party is featured in films such as The Beach

The Beach (film)

The Beach is a 2000 adventure drama film directed by Danny Boyle and based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Alex Garland, which was adapted for the film by John Hodge. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and features Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet...

, Last Stop for Paul

Last Stop for Paul

Last Stop for Paul is a 2006-2007 independent film by Neil Mandt. It chronicles the journey of two men to the Full Moon Party in Thailand. The film is notable in that there was no crew and no casting.-Plot:...

and the Thai film Hormones

Hormones (2008 film)

Hormones is a 2008 Thai romantic comedy film directed by Songyos Sugmakanan. The literal meaning of the Thai title is 'restless hearts during school break' or 'school break, hearts aflutter'.-Plot:...

. It was also featured in the first episode of the Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 tv show Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust

Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust

Gerhard Reinke's Wanderlust was a mockumentary television comedy broadcast on the American cable channel Comedy Central in Spring 2003. It starred writer-comedian Josh Gardner as a German backpacker who has several misadventures as he travels around the world on small budget for the fictional...

. In 2011, the island's parties featured on Tourism and the Truth: Stacey Dooley Investigates

Stacey Dooley

Stacey Dooley is a British television personality who rose to fame in 2009 after appearing in a number of BBC Three documentaries highlighting child labour issues in developing countries.-Career and background:...

, a documentary investigating the negative impacts of tourism on local people and the economy.