SURAT THANI: About 20,000 tourists attended a Full Moon Party along a nearly one-kilometre-long stretch of beach on Koh Phangan on Thursday night.
To ensure the partygoers' security, police, immigration officers and local officials were deployed to Rin Beach at around 8pm for the fifth Full Moon Party of 2023.
Surat Thani governor Wichawut Jinto and several senior police officers were also present to ensure the event remained orderly.
Security measures were put in place to boost visitor confidence and prevent illicit drug activities at the venue, said Pol Lt Gen Sukhun Promayon, commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau.
Authorities estimate that the four-day holiday period, which began on Thursday, will generate tens of millions of baht for the popular tourist island.
The province also expects more than 3 million in tourism-related income gained yesterday from the more than 3,000 passengers and crew members of Mein Schiff 5, a luxury cruise ship that made a one-day stop near Koh Samui.
A source said about 930 crew and 2,250 European tourists who arrived from Vietnam disembarked from the liner.
Chayaphon Intharasupha, the district chief, said at least 130 tourists chose to visit Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park, an archipelago of 42 islands covering 102 square kilometres. Another 30 tourists hired seven speedboats while the rest spent their time on Koh Samui.
The island's tourism businesses did well, with shops, restaurants, taxi trucks and rental cars busy dealing with the tourists from the ship, the district chief said.
Ban Hin Lat, a community in Moo 2 of tambon Ang Thong of the island district which offers a cultural-based tourism tour, also received many visitors yesterday, he said.
Many other tourists were spotted at the beaches, waterfalls and other tourist attractions on the island, he said.