Walking in Thailand’s Sumi Island IV-Full Moon Carnival Party

Originally, there were no what activities in the trip, but I just wanted to look at the blue sky, blue sea and white clouds on the small island far away from the mainland and relax. A few days before leaving, I learned from CCTV News that coconut farmers on this island, which accounts for 70% of Thailand’s coconut production, began to try to train monkeys to pick coconuts in order to save labor costs and better management: “Monkeys are more obedient to management and will not have any wage increase requirements.” So I was secretly pleased: I can watch monkeys pick coconuts! However, there was no “Full Moon Party” program, and I didn’t find this project when I did my homework in advance. It was only when Xiao Huang arrived at Suratani Dock that morning that he found the publicity poster that he learned that our time was just right to participate in this “Party”. This “Party” is held on the full moon day of each lunar month in “Pangan” (also known as Moonlight Island) to the north of Sumi Island. We are really lucky to meet, because this is a carnival for young people in the West, and there is no tourism promotion for our country. Xiao Huang studied in Phuket, which is so close to Sumi Island, for more than two years. He only knew about this activity through watching Thai movies, but he has never participated in it. Therefore, when he saw the publicity poster, he was ecstatic and even shouted “lucky”! “Hit red-handed”! Unfortunately, Mr. Xiao Luan left the island that morning because he received his classmates.

Transport tickets for the party were booked through hotel owner Louis, with a round trip of 700 Thai baht. On the 31st, it was the Buddha’s Birthday Festival. Huang was very worried about the rescheduling of the full moon carnival. On the first day, Louis was repeatedly asked to implement it. Only when it was confirmed that it was correct did he feel relieved.

At 4 o’clock this afternoon, a minibus came to the hotel to pick us up. When I got into the car, I found that except we were yellow-skinned and short-nosed Asians, the rest were all white-skinned and high-nosed Western young people.

At an irregular dock, we waded into the speedboat. There are about 40 people in a ship. I observed that there are about 6 or 7 Asian faces and the rest are Westerners.

The speedboat took the wind and waves to the north and reached Pan’an Island in 15 minutes. It seems that it is not easy to take part in this carnival either. You have to cut off your time or get seasick, because the means of transportation in Pangan Island must be speedboats, and seasick people can only look at the island and sigh!

On board the island, Thais in uniform greeted them to buy tickets. Xiao Huang said that those people were sent by the tourism department. Tickets are not expensive: 100 Thai baht, or RMB 20 yuan. What is commendable is that the ticket design is very humanized: it is a soft plastic bracelet, which has both collection value and practical value. On my trip back to Bangkok the next day, I found many tourists wearing it on their wrists. A Singapore tourist saw the sign on my wrist and asked me happily: Did you go to the full moon carnival yesterday?

If it is paper tickets, it will not have this effect.

Pangan Island is a slightly smaller island than Sumi Island, and its connection with the mainland is entirely by boat. Although the transportation is very inconvenient, the commercial atmosphere on the island is very strong because the carnival activities have been held for many years. As soon as they entered the “island gate”, Thais kept shouting “TAXI” and “TAXI”! It looks like the carnival venue is far away. Xiao Huang pretended to be a Thai and asked a policeman. Only then did he know that it was only more than ten minutes away from the beach of the main venue. The unknown “foreigners” climbed onto the small convertible called “TAXI” one after another, while we walked slowly while watching the scene. To say “look at the scenery” is actually to look at shops. There are only three categories of things sold in the shops: clothes and clothes with fluorescence; Alcoholic beverages in small plastic barrels; The barbecue grill smells delicious and roasts food.

Eat, drink, look and walk. It was only a little more than 6 o’clock when we arrived at the beach. Night had just fallen. Upon enquiry, the carnival party didn’t officially start until 9 o’clock. At this time, there are only a few tourists on the beach, only a line of stalls along the coast are brightly lit.

Growing up by the sea, as soon as I set foot on the beach, I immediately judged that the beach used for carnival was exposed, moist and hard after the tide ebbed. I seriously suspected that the carnival in the middle of the night was probably carried out in the water.

There are still more than two minutes left, and I can only sit on the wet beach and wait foolishly.

The moon sneaked out of the dark sea at 6: 20.

At the full moon party, of course, there must be a moon. I tried my best to look for the moon with a pair of useless myopia. Huang pointed to the distance and suddenly said, “It should be the moon.” I squinted and looked carefully. I saw a little apricot red arch up bit by bit in the middle of the dark opposite side. The color became lighter and lighter, and the light spots became rounder and rounder. Finally, it turned into a silver CD and hung sparkling on the opposite side. Because of the reflection of the moon, I can tell which is the sky and which is the sea (my eyes are not strong, I can see it from the camera lens, ha ha).

I have read the poem “The Moon Born on the Sea” many times, but it is the first time that I really face “The Moon Born on the Sea”. This is a feeling that can only be understood but not expressed in words.

As the full moon gradually rises, the sea water is also quietly rising and more people are gradually increasing. Looking closely at the tourists walking up and down the beach, we found that at least 90% of them were Westerners. It is puzzling whether all the Westerners in Thailand were concentrated on this beach this night. Or just came to some beach in the west? In addition, contrary to the age composition of Western tourists who are mainly white-haired elderly in all tourist attractions, the young participants here are the absolute main force! Also, carnival is a matter for young people. However, as the night darkened and the number increased, groups of Thai sisters began to appear on the beach. By-products of the full moon party are beginning to emerge: some Westerners who plan to stay in Thailand for a short period of time or for a long time hope to use this ambiguous night to find a Thai sister who does “special work” here to have an affair or form a short-term family. Maybe that’s how the ugly and black Thai sister beside Louis came from?

The hour hand slowly moved to 9 o’clock. JD music began to ring here and there. Fireworks also jumped into the night sky from time to time. More heckling was heard one after another. It turned out that merchants were sparing no effort to sell the things on their stalls to every tourist or group of tourists. There were also more stalls with lights on the beach.

We patted our wet buttocks and walked towards the brightest places with the loudest cries.

It turns out that these are all stalls selling drinks, screaming for tourists. The vendor is a Thai who is in one water. When he sees different tourists, he shouts in different languages. Without exception, as we approached, several vendors rushed to shout “hello”! “Hello”!

Xiao Huang, who was blackened by the scorching sun near the equator, accosted them in Thai, which can be used in real terms, and successfully bought a bottle of beer at Louis’ price of 50 Thai baht. He said that if it weren’t for the fake, they would have asked for at least 80 Thai baht. He said that Thais are very good at this, at least not killing their own people. However, in China, even one of its own people is killed, which is too unkind. Alas! Sad!

Some of the bright stalls on the beach sell fluorescent ornaments and some paint fluorescent patterns on tourists.

The full moon like a silver plate rose to the middle of the sky. At 9 o’clock sharp, as a green laser hit the mountain on the right side of the beach with the words “Thailand” and “Welcome to Pangan Welcome to Pan’an Island”, the carnival began and the beach was boiling.

A huge scallop shell set off a crazy drummer on the shelf. On the next stage, a group of young people were writhing wildly with music in the changing lights. There are several such stages on the beach.

Crowds of people formed circles, the center of which was highly skilled and bold people playing with fire.

More and more people waved their bare arms, red arms and big faces painted with fluorescent patterns, holding small plastic buckets with several straws, talking and laughing while drinking. It seems that the theme of carnival is to release once and relax once, bringing convenience to those in need.

Xiao Huang and I were just bystanders, walking past one table after another, one circle after another, appreciating their madness and feeling their joy. Walking to the left side of the beach, I found it was relatively quiet. A dozen pairs of young men and women were sitting on the beach. A candle was burning in a bunker in front of them, either whispering or quietly. Are they praying for the future?

At 11 o’clock in the middle of the night, we left the beach to return to the hotel, because Xiao Huang will return at 6 o’clock the next morning. However, I didn’t know until I got to the dock that the promise to have a return speedboat at any time is only for team tourists. Our individual rule is to start the return at 1 o’clock in the middle of the night, and if only a few people will also send the boat. However, if a ship of individual passengers is assembled before 1 o’clock, the ship can also be dispatched.

After waiting for more than a minute, at 12: 30 we finally got enough people.

In the waiting time, tourists who went to the island to take part in the carnival still arrived one after another, with Thai faces accounting for a certain number. Xiao Huang said that many Thais came to join the fun after work because of the national holiday for Buddha’s Birthday the next day. Anyway, they will not go to work tomorrow. As the island is far away from the mainland, it is very late to get here by bus and boat.

When the returning speedboat soared at sea, there were also speedboats heading for the island passing by. I really admire the energy of those people!

We were the first individual speedboat on outlying islands. One of the passengers was a Western girl who was taking intravenous drip. Several of the accompanying people took turns to help her hold the infusion bottle. I don’t know whether she was drunk or jumped too much. When disembarking, she was found to have an ambulance parked on the shore and several people escorted her to the ambulance. However, judging from the fact that she landed on her own, there should be no big deal. However, Thailand’s considerate tourism service is evident.

A minibus took us from hotel to hotel to deliver. We were sitting in the cab and it was not convenient to check the situation in the back seat. However, as we got off the bus late, we saw some “foreigners” who got off the bus in front of us. Three of them each got off with a Thai sister who had no beauty. It was estimated that this was the “harvest” of the carnival.