Ko Pha Ngan featured prominently in Alex Garland's 1996 novel The Beach and is also mentioned in the 2006 song Magick by the new rave band Klaxons' (but probably[original research?] more as a reference to the 1996 novel The Beach than the island itself).
The world-renowned Full Moon Party is a monthly dance music festival set on Haad Rin Nok Beach scheduled every month at full moon. The event primarily features electronic music and attracts around 30,000 party-goers in a normal month.[6] Recently steps have been taken to make Ko Pha Ngan into a more family-friendly tourist destination, promoting the island's wealth of natural attractions and also stepping up the police presence; road blocks with stop and search procedures are commonplace and undercover police also patrol parties.
There is also a Half Moon Party held every month at half moon. While the full moon party takes place on the beach at Haad Rin Nok, the half moon party takes place in the jungle inland from Ban Tai, requiring Tuk-Tuk, taxi or bike transport to and from.
The song "Vision in Blue" on the album The Golden Ratio by Ace of Base mentions Ko Pha Ngan.
DJ/producer Ashley Wallbridge titled his 2012 song "Kopanang", an anglicized version of Ko Pha Ngan.[7]
The British psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles featured a song called Ko Pha Ngan on their 1989 album The Bits Between The Bits.