There couldn’t have been a bigger contrast between the first and last nights of the Sydictive Element New Year party.
On Sunday night (December 30) only a couple of thousand people turned up for the show, which was plagued with technical problems that prevented the entertainment from beginning until almost midnight.
On New Year’s Eve, however, the walled-off area of Patong Beach was much fuller and although Senegalese R&B and hip-hip headliner Akon failed (as predicted by The Phuket News) to make an appearance, the partygoers enjoyed themselves immensely.
The exciting light and laser show, augmented at midnight by Patong’s traditional warzone of fireworks, and the pulsing beat of the surround-sound music played by the deejays attracted more walk-in guests who were initially watching the excitement from outside but opted to pay money to get to the heart of the party.
Partygoer Plalida Khamsong, who said she went to the party about 11pm to see her favourite, DJ Tydi, told The Phuket News the event was “awesome” and the light and sound were “really good”. She finally left at around 4am, she said.
As the tide went out and the VIP guests left their special barges (anchored in front of the main floating stage), partygoers were able to wade from the beach and were allowed to take their place.
Phuket resident Sophida said that overall she had a lot of fun, despite there being certain “weird mistakes” about the event, not least of all the fact that after the event, “those who paid for VIP [access] had to swim back from the stage.”
Sophida, who paid B2,000 for a ticket, also mentioned that the event did not start at the advertised time of 3pm, but six hours later, and said she was angered that after 1am everybody could apparently walk in free.
The first dawn of the new year broke over a few stragglers, the sound system by now silent. Officials will no doubt now be looking at the chequered history of the event, and wondering if it could have been handled better.
Only the organisers know how many people came to the party but some of those who did believe the number was well below the predicted 50,000.
The event was dogged by controversy from the start. Originally Sydictive Element CEO Jirat “Champ” Petnunthawong, in a Bangkok press conference decorated by socialite/porn star/reality show star Paris Hilton, said they would stage the event on Surin Beach, blocking the non-paying public from the entire beach for two days.
There was a great deal of local grumbling, culminating in threats from two hotels to sue for millions of baht.At that point, with about a week to go and with the organisers claiming 20,000 tickets sold at around B2,500 apiece, it was announced that the party would be switched to Patong.
Easier said than done. Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukban opposed it on the grounds that beaches are public and it is illegal to occupy part of the sand for a commercial venture. Besides, he said, beer company ThaiBev was arranging its annual free concert for New Year’s Eve on the beach.
Mayor Pian Keesin agreed in principle. But he stipulated that the Sydictive party could go ahead, either in combination with ThaiBev’s, or could go be staged separately. But either way, he said, the event should be free.
Finally, Sydictive Element’s chairman Vorachat Petnunthawong – Mr Jirat’s father – arrived in Phuket having twisted enough arms to coerce agreement to the event going ahead.
Behind the scenes, a number of artists who were supposed to perform pulled out, citing breeches of contract.
These included the headliner Akon, whose management complained that although Akon pulled out on December 11, the organisers continued to use his image to promote the party, as if he were still playing.
The Sydictive party went ahead, but the organisers have burned so many bridges and put themselves through so much stress it seems doubtful they will come back for a second bite.