Reservations on Ko Pha Ngan around Full Moon Parties and New Years
The best way to get a good place to stay on Ko Pha Ngan is to get there early. By early we mean 4-5 days before the party – not a day or two. This will give you time to find a flophouse to crash in and then spend time triping around Haad Rin and or the island to find the place you want. Remember ALL beaches on the island will organise transport to get to the party – you do not have to stay on Haad Rin to party – in fact an increasing number of people trip over from Samui just for the night. Also, remember a LOT of people leave before the party (a great idea in our opinion!)
A lot of places have 3-4 night minimum stays over a FMP – 6-7 days is not unheard of. In our experience, these are not negotiable, though individual mileage will vary.
If you MUST have a reservation, use a phone and make a telephone reservation once you are in Thailand. Don’t bother calling from overseas as you’ll rapidly run up the cost of a weeks accommodation on your phone tab. Not all places have a phone, but those that do will almost always speak enough English to take a reservation. If you make a telephone reservation do your best to get there early – the later you arrive the more likely the guesthouse will dishonour your reservation and give your room to backpacker #125,432 today that has walked in asking for a room.
Another option is to go into a guesthouse/travel agent in KSR and ask them if they can book a place for you. Most have pictures (which vary in their accuracy!) of resorts, if they make a booking for you, they may even be able to take a deposit from you, which will help to guarantee you a room.
The reason we suggest you use the phone over the web is that most (though not all) of the cheaper places that take bookings online are dumps, and there is at least one that we know of, that runs photos of another resort on “their” booking page – book online with caution – look for reviews where possible. The mid-range and upper cost places are limited in number and generally well profiled on the web, so they tend to fill up quickest and they are often outrageouly overpriced.
If you can’t get a reservation and arrive too close to the party to get a room near Haad Rin, the best beaches for overflow are Baan Tai, Baan Kai and Ao Thong Sala, Ao Plaay Laem, and , if you don’t mind a boatride, Haad Yuan.
Lastly, consider staying on Ko Samui. Mae Nam has stacks of bungalows in the 150-300B range that are great value, and there is transport over to the party on the night.