Is Koh Pha Ngan the Best?

i don't think so... i think the parties on koh phangan are rather shallow and soulless. it's 98% men off their heads trying to get laid. there are no longer special djs or performers or art or live music or anything of much interest at all. festivals back home were much better. i have been to better parties in bangkok, on koh samet, koh chang, etc.

more fun drinking with a thai family

For the YDFOC crowd, I think Hat Rin is still as good as it gets. Other serious "party" beaches in Thailand would include Patong on Phuket or maybe Chaweng on Samui (or Pattaya if you're old and have a beer belly) but youth-wise it's Hat Rin all the way. If you want to drink until you pass out and/or get laid try the Woolshed in Cairns Queensland Australia or Beachcomber island in Fiji or Tromso in Norway.

patong is for the ydfoc crowd

I was at last year's "Full Sun Party" (Under the midnight sun) in Tromso...

if you go, don't eat the herring!!

The FMP is of course the biggest, and I like to go to it, but I generally prefer the Half Moon party. It's a more "serious" dance night set in a fantastic location in the jungle, if you've not been - try it.

Other than that, went to some pretty good parties on Ko Lanta over the Xmas period last year ... there was a party every night somewhere on the island, different locations each time to give different bar-owners the opportunity to cash in.

I just came into the bus to Bangkok with 3 British girls that just left Koh Phangan. They said it was absolutely boring. There was no one around. So if you don't go during any of the moon parties, there is nothing going on. They said they only saw about 10 other people there.

The best parties are in Nana EP.

To be honest, after going to Shambhala in Canada for several years, (which was awesome), I found the Full Moon Party on KPN quite boring....
different music blasting from every beach bar, overlapping sound, excrement and Urin filling the water off the beach, stupid games...like climbing a rope ladder to get the money on top...
I hear Pai had an awesome reaggee festival a few month ago, with an excellent lineup.

I enjoy rave tunes, (even thought, I am one of those old guys with the beer belly ;-) , but not three different spins from three different competing sound systems at the same time.

I haven't been to the Half Moon Party, but have heard good things about it.

Usually, when we went to KPN, we stayed on the other end of the island and just came down to party.

Being a diver, I usually go to Ko Lipe now, which is quiet, with a few friendly beach bars, but has awesome dive sites.

guys like loosing_touch know a lot more about KPN than I do. I only went a few times and didnt' go back. He can probably tell you about all the good parties there.