Heads up — July's Full Moon Party moved to the 31st, not the 29th

Quick one, but genuinely important if you're planning your trip around this: the actual full moon in July 2026 falls on the 29th, but the party is not happening that night. It's been moved to Friday, July 31, 2026.

Why it moved

This isn't the organisers being flaky — it's Thai law. July 29 is Asalha Bucha Day, and July 30 is Khao Phansa (the start of Buddhist Lent), both national Buddhist holidays. Thailand bans alcohol sales nationwide on these dates — no beer, no buckets, nothing, anywhere in the country, not just on Phangan. Running a party that lives and dies on bucket sales during a dry day just isn't possible, so it gets pushed to the nearest normal weekend night instead.

This happens most years when the full moon lands close to one of these Buddhist holidays — it's not a one-off, and it's worth remembering for future trips too if your dates ever land near a big Buddhist calendar date.

What this means for you

• If you booked accommodation around July 29 specifically for the party — you're fine, just shift your plans two days later to the 31st (a Friday, which honestly works out better for a lot of people anyway).
• Expect Haad Rin to still be quiet-ish on the 29th and 30th — no alcohol sold anywhere on the island those two days, not just at the party beach.
• Everything else about the party is normal — same beach, same setup, just the date that's different this one time.

We keep the full, auto-updating schedule (with these kinds of shifts already built in) on our Full Moon Party page — worth bookmarking instead of trusting a random date you saw somewhere else.