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After 20 years, the Full Moon party now attracts crowds of up to 10,000 people. But the scale of drunkenness, drug-taking and problems caused by the 24-hour raves has become dangerous and a pain for local residents.
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KOH PHANGAN
Full moon madness
Saturday's party blamed for death of two tourists. Thai authorities are under pressure to rein in the "madness" at the notorious Full Moon parties on Koh Phangan, following a bloody weekend in which two foreign tourists died.
Published on March 27, 2008
A young Indian man was killed after intervening in a nasty fight on Had Rin Beach that almost claimed the life of a local teenager as well.
Chetan Dadhwal, 24, was stabbed with a metal scrapper, allegedly by a local youth aged just 14. Dadhwal was rushed to a hospital on nearby Koh Samui, but succumbed to his injuries.
Lieutenant General Tha-nee Tawitsee, the chief of Provincial Police Region 8, reportedly flew to Phangan Island to interrogate the suspect.
The teenager allegedly denied the charges, but police said witnesses had identified the boy as the culprit.
He has been charged with causing a disturbance resulting in the death of others and is being held in custody.
A 15-year-old local whom Dadhwal sought to help was reportedly stabbed four times with the same weapon. His condition is critical.
Meanwhile, a Scottish man died in a motorbike accident which some also blame on lax policing after the party.
Stephen Paterson, 35, crashed into a metal pole while riding through a local village after the Full Moon party. Paterson was on a six-month backpacking trip around the world.
Grieving family
His tragic death was written up in the UK Sunday Mail, which said a travel British insurance firm was adding to the Paterson family's grief "by refusing to bring his body back home... Today he lies in a mortuary about 10,000kms from his grieving family." It said the insurance firm "claimed his policy was invalid because he was driving a 125cc motorbike - and he was insured only for 50cc bikes".
The latest dramas follow the fatal stabbing of a 32-year-old Israeli in April last year at the Drop In Club on Haad Rin Beach.
A gang of local teenagers, including the son of a local politician, were the chief suspects for that incident but the police case against them has reportedly made little progress.
Repeated complaints about loud noise and rampant drug abuse at the Full Moon parties have also greatly upset local residents.
See kohphangannews.org
By Jim Pollard
Daily Xpress
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