Those who spend a lot of time on Koh Phangan or frequently visit the island used to tell anyone who cared to listen that Koh Phangan was a place that prided itself on being a law unto itself. Throughout the years the central authority in Bangkok has been making decrees affecting the island. And the take up has always been patchy.
The notion is that the Thais (aided and abetted by foreigners), especially Southerners in Thaksin supporting areas, often ignored regulations from the government. Parties need licenses – yeah whatever; bars need to shut at midnight – yeah whatever; the consumption of marijuana must be pro-actively discouraged – yeah whatever.
For years local residents have petitioned the authorities on curbing the proliferation of parties in the Bantai area. They are given lip service; and little more.
So, it might have come as a shock when on 26th January police raided the 63 Bar in Koh Phangan that was holding a party. They arrested 89 foreigners of which 6 were British. 22 Thai were also arrested. Everyone caught were given small fines and suspended prison sentences.
Normally the police raid a bar, and most people slip away via the many exits usually available, with an unlucky couple of foreigners being taken away in handcuffs, and the Thais milling around like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. Not this time.
As it stands bars and restaurants are open in Koh Phangan. They have to stop selling alcohol by 24.00. Hotels, gyms, spas and massage parlours are open but operate under Covid safety rules. These rules include wearing masks in certain situations.
The reality on the ground is that Thailand closed its airports to international travellers early on in the pandemic in 2020. These rules have now been eased but visitors are made to provide negative covid-19 tests and to spend 14 days in a quarantine hotel, the costs of which fall upon the traveller. These restrictions have deterred all but the most determined and the most idly rich from visiting Koh Phangan.
The foreigners arrested at 63 Bar will have mostly been long stay residents, probably with some financial stake in the island – such as divers, small business owners etc.
The bars, restaurants, gyms, spas and hotels on the island are desperate for the tourists to return to the island. They are also desperate for the Full Moon Party and all the other parties start up again (they were closed in March 2020). Without the monthly influxes of people, rents and salaries cannot be paid. The huge grey and black markets have been decimated.
Expect as 2021 progresses and more people around the world are vaccinated, and somewhat ignorantly consider themselves safe, the clamour will increase for the removal of the quarantine hotel restriction and the return of the parties (with passing nods to social distancing). People will attempt land crossings, illegal parties and the such like to reignite the good times in one of the world’s most famous good time locations.
Currently UK citizens are not allowed to travel abroad except for work, study or emergency reasons. Ministers have indicated that it is too early to book summer holidays. You would be foolish at this stage (February 2021) to book flights to Thailand and hotels in Thailand.
The Thai government has ordered 63 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, much of them either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. The roll out of the vaccination program will be a challenge to the health infrastructure of the country, not least because access to some island and rural communities is problematic, and because many inhabitants of the Kingdom simply go unregistered.
The land of the free, the land of smiles and the land of whatever you want has long been a mecca for libertarians keen to eschew the shackles of laws that don’t fit with their notions of fun. The problem is that now those fun activities are the most likely to spread the virus and cause death, even for the young and supposedly immune.
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