When you're ready for a break from the beach, visitors will find many options for outdoor recreational activities await those traveling alone, in couples or as families.

If you catch a spell of rainy weather, you might take the opportunity to learn to cook Thai food or learn more about it. With the establishment of a modern Culinary Institute opened in 1998 especially for visiting foreigners, as well as cooking demonstrations at some of the island's large hotels, you can immerse yourself in the study of one of the world's great cuisines. For those who wish to learn to speak Thai, there are also now Private Language Centers. Or you might learn the art of Thai massage.

Full Moon Party

Several years ago, a group of tourists and the owner of Paradise Bungalow found that the most beautiful moon was in Koh Phangan. They arranged a party along the crescent-shaped beach of Haad Rin to celebrate the Full Moon night. From then on, people from all over the world came to join the celebration and now there are 7,000-10,000 people at the party each month.

The party begins at dusk, when the round yellow moon makes its appearance over the white sandy beach. At nightfall, small tables are lined up on the beach and thousands of lamps are lit.

As the evening progresses the beach explodes into a dancing frenzy as different m.c.'s take their turn on the decks. There is something for everyone here, trance, techno, drum and bass, commercial dance and reggae, no one is disappointed. Jugglers and fire-eaters entertain the crowds as the night goes on and with the brilliant impromptu fireworks display, the party atmosphere is complete. After a few hours it could be time to chill-out for a while, maybe grab a drink or a bite to eat from one of the many beach traders and wade out or sit down in the warm surf of the Gulf of Thailand- pure, pure heaven.

Pha Ngan is easily accessed by daily ferry boats from Suratthani, or from Maenam and Bophut piers in Samui. These boats call at Thong Sala and HaadRin which are connected to the island's many resorts by pickup trucks running over rough tracks.

Over a hundred small, budget-bungalow resorts ring the island, offering a range of accommodation from extremely remote and semi-primitive to the moderately priced, comfortable places that completely line Haad Rin beach, which also has a small village with restaurants, discos and bars. 

Black Moon Parties

Thongson Bay is a beautiful secluded bay that has been forgotten by mainstream Samui. Reached by following a dirt road from Thongsai or Big Buddha, there are two family-run bungalows with rooms right on the beach. The beach is wide and sandy, great for swimming and always nearly deserted.

Somrong bay is also a deserted cove but almost inaccessible by road. It has become the venue for Samui’s Black moon parties, which have begun to rival the full moon parties on Phangan.

The parties are now held every month and seem to be gaining in popularity. DJs from The Club and Santa Fe spin house, garage and trance, with the music blasting out of huge sound systems all through the night and into the morning.

At the moment they are much smaller versions of the full moon, but with one sound station and one DJ everybody is dancing to the same beat – instead of the disparate musical mish mash in Haad Rin. They should appeal to the more dedicated clubbers and ravers as well as the more common and garden hedonists out there.

Pick up trucks transfer people from The Club in Chaweng, the Happy Elephant in Bophut and Lugano in Lamai and return early the next morning. 

Thai Cooking & Fruit Carving

When the sun goes down, the village of Chaweng in particular, has an exceptionally vibrant nightlife, where beginning at dusk you can stroll the beach road and choose from hundreds of venues for drinks, dining, and live music. There are even transvestite cabaret shows. Chaweng also has several world class discotheques and rock pubs with Western music. These clubs are packed in high season, and there you can mingle with the locals and visitors from all over the world until dawn.

The ambience in Samui's nighttime entertainment areas is as relaxed and freewheeling as you will experience anywhere. The ease with which one gets intoxicated by the excitement, is partly due the island being an exceptionally safe place to let loose and have fun. However be aware that like any tourist destination, we do have our petty criminals. These individuals are most often present late at night in some of the entertainment areas.

Simply exercise the same caution you would at home, and it is very unlikely you will be victimized.

Many people - men especially - may find it easy to make attractive new friends in the bars and discotheques. Some of these people will expect you to pay them for their company if you go out for the evening.

The majority of them do not have criminal intentions of any kind, however there are occasional incidents. In particular be extremely cautious with men masquerading as women. If you choose to take a new friend (whether a local or a tourist) back to your hotel, always safeguard your valuables. If a friendly stranger pulls up beside you on a motorscooter while you are out walking at night, and offers you a ride, don't go. Finally, women especially, should not accept invitations from a stranger to walk on the beach at night.

Muay Thai (Thai Boxing)
If you don’t mind the violence, a Thai boxing match is worth attending for the pure spectacle and the wild musical accompaniment, the ceremonial beginning of each match, and the frenzied betting around the stadium.

The training of a Thai boxer, particularly the relationship between the boxer and teacher, is highly ritualized. As the boxers enter the ring, they perform a special pre-fight dance known as the "ram muay". During the dance, they wear a headband given by their trainer. It is a sacred talisman earned after years of dedication to the art. The dance starts with "wai khru" -- each boxer kneeling and bowing three times, which is a show of respect to his teacher. With the ceremonies complete, the fight begins.

A match consists of five rounds of three minutes each. Accompanying the fight is music stimulated by action in the ring, rising and falling as the boxers battle it out. All surfaces of the body are considered fair targets, and any part of the body except the head may be used to strike an opponent. Common blows include high kicks to the neck, elbow thrusts to the face and head, knee hooks to the ribs, and low crescent kicks to the calf. A contestant may even grasp an opponent’s head between his hands and pull it down to meet an upward knee thrust (ouch!). Punching is considered the weakest of all blows and kicking merely a way to ‘soften up’ one’s opponent; most matches end with a knee or elbow strike.

The origins of this martial art and sport are thought to stretch back to the wars with the Burmese during the 15th century. Thailand’s first famous boxer was ‘Nai Khanom Tom’, who was said to have single-handedly defeated a dozen Burmese fighters in a wager for freedom. A Thai King, Phra Chao Seua (The Tiger King), is said to have been an incognito participant in many boxing matches in the early part of his reign. The sport has changed a lot from the days when boxers would wrap their fists in thick horsehide trimmed with cotton then soak them in glue and broken glass for maximum impact. The many changes initiated to make the sport safer have reduced the high incidence of death and injury. But Thai boxing is still a violent contact sport and considered by many as the ultimate in unarmed combat.

Thai boxing matches are held every Monday and Friday night at the stadium in Chaweng. Occasional matches are held on other days (usually announced by pick-ups with loud speakers). Demonstrations of Muay Thai are held in many of tourist areas but they are mostly for show.

Bars & Pubs

Live Music

Cabaret Shows