TRAVELOGUE » An Epic Adventure Leaving the Full Moon Party

The Aftermath of the Full Moon Party in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand

After the dust had settled on the Full Moon Party in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand, we returned to our hotel room at 8am with 4/5 of our crew.

Reuben was there. Karen came back. Me and Carrie were accounted for … but where was Claire?!

Figuring she would show up at some point, we all slipped into a deep sleep for nearly 12 hours.

Our room inside the Rainbow Bungalows in Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand

The Search For Claire

Claire was still missing at 7pm, so I asked one of our Thai friends for help. He agreed, and I hopped onto the back of his motorcycle to search the island for her.

Empty streets Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand — The streets of Koh Phangan are abandoned the morning after the Full Moon Party

Our destinations? Health clinics and the police station to see if anyone had seen the girl whose passport I held in my hand. None of us knew what to do but we were very worried.

My friend told me that people go missing all the time. Also, if we filed a police report and Claire didn’t show up, we would be required to stay on the island until she resurfaced.

I had no luck finding Claire on the motorcycle ride. But, guess what I saw upon returning to the hotel…

There she was. Claire … in the flesh … chatting with the girls and telling a story about how she met new friends and wound up on the other side of the island with no cell phone.

Thank goodness she was OK; but what an experience for us. Now, all that was left to do was book our ticket out of Ko Pha Ngan.

A tourist office on Ko Pha Ngan, which booked tickets for backpackers to leave the Full Moon Party

We Just Want to Get Out of Here!

The next day we all said our goodbyes and Carrie and started our 700 kilometer journey north to Chang Mai for some trekking.

We had gone against our usual method of travel and booked a direct trip to Bangkok through a tour agent to make our life easier.

Our taxi left the hotel at 11am and we next joined thousands of Westerners boarding a boat to what we thought was Surat Thani.

Songthaw taxi Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand - Full Moon Party — Dozens of Songthaw taxis like this one make continuous round trips between Full Moon Party hotels and the dock

Backpacks on a boat - Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand - Full Moon Party — A huge pile of backpacker bags loaded onto the boat from the full moon party

You’re Dropping us off Where?!

In reality the boat dropped us off a few hours later at some dock somewhere in Thailand where buses waited to take us the rest of the way.

We were among the last people off the boat by the time we finally got our bags all of the buses were full and we had to wait on this random dock for nearly two hours before the next bus came.

When we finally arrived in Surat Thani we were left at a bus terminal in the middle of nowhere so we had no choice but to buy their overpriced food.