Ko-Pha-Ngan New year!

#9 Be sure to book your boat ticket off Koh Phangan in advance, the boats get very full and you could end up stranded for a few extra days

????? Is that some sort of tourist equivalent of the KSR rip off tourist buses? The car ferries from Thon Sala are not bookable, and I doubt that they would ever be "too full".
Believe it or not, the FMP is completely irrelevant to the vast majority of the people that live on KPN, and they live lives that do not revolve around a bunch of puking adolescents, including going from and coming to the island.

The car ferries may well be great for locals but they're not for everyone. I am talking from experience, I was stranded as all ferries were full and booked in advance. I had to get back to koh Samui for a flight to Cambodia which I ended up missing as a result. Luckily my accommodation was able to accommodate me a few extra days and then i left on the lomprayah which I let my accommodation book for me at no additional cost, they were very helpful. As a lone female traveller it's something I should have thought ahead about and didn't. Hence mentioning it above.

It is also my experience that people don't just visit the island for that one event and it attracts people of all ages. I will be returning this year when there is no FMP because I think Koh Phangan is a beautiful island in it's own right.

Ps - those locals for whom the FMP is completely irrelevant that you mention do incredibly well out of the increased tourism they bring, without it exactly where would their income come from? Adolescent and puking or not, their baht is still highly sort after by those working/running businesses. Exactly what percentage of residents do jobs that are in no way affected by tourism?

#13 Sorry, but I've stayed all over Phangan, and the FMP is irrelevant almost everywhere other than Hat Rin and nearby.
Most nice beaches have families and tourists that would rather boil their heads than go to a FMP!
In fact, the beaches that do have the bagpacker spillover are invariably not popular with the average tourist because the FMP crowd are just a pack of ignorant a holes that think they have some right to play their crap horrible noise amplified on their bl**dy Icrapods at any time of the night or day, and disturb the ambiance.

Exactly what percentage of residents do jobs that are in no way affected by tourism?
Not many, however, that applies to normal tourism, not a one night a month crapfest, most of the profits from which go to a small group of people.
I'm sure though that the police do profit substantially from the FMP with the guaranteed backhanders from people too stupid to think that the drug laws don't apply to them.