The methanol poisoning incident in Laos has exposed the dark side of the illegal alcohol trade in Southeast Asia and could endanger the health and safety of countless Australian tourists. According to data from the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), as much as 33% of alcoholic beverages consumed in Laos are counterfeit or "unrecorded," posing a potential health risk to tourists.
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02-23, 2025Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowers tragically died after drinking alcohol laced with methanol in Vang Vieng, Laos. Concurrently, four tourists from the UK, Denmark, and the United States also perished due to similar causes. These incidents highlight the severity of the illegal alcohol trade and the threat it poses to tourist safety.
TRACIT Director General Jeffrey Hardy pointed out that these deaths force attention on the lucrative illegal alcohol market, which continues to thrive. He stated that in some Southeast Asian countries, the market share of illegal alcohol is as high as 20%, 30%, or even 50%. There are also numerous reports of deaths and poisonings in Latin and South America, as well as countless hospitalizations. Hardy emphasized that smuggling, unscrupulous manufacturers, and even bars and bartenders diluting drinks can all lead to illegal alcohol entering the market.
Hardy warned that these illegal substances can be added at any point in the supply chain. He stated that legitimate and reputable alcohol companies are powerless against this massive illegal trade. "It's tragic, it really can happen anywhere," he said. "Certainly not legitimate producers, they're doing everything they can to ensure these products are free from any form of tampering. They're closely associated with responsible drinking, they don't even want tragedies associated with someone drinking too much and getting into a car accident."
Since the deaths in Laos, Australian tourists, especially those who frequently travel to Southeast Asian countries, have been alerted. Even if tourists avoid street vendors and insist on consuming alcohol in hotel bars, there is no guarantee that tragedy will not strike again. In 2020, one person in Bac Giang province, Vietnam, died and six others were hospitalized after drinking alcohol with high methanol content, which was labeled as locally produced glutinous rice wine. In 2021, 11 people in Cambodia died from drinking toxic rice wine. Hardy stated that the situation in India is "even worse."
Hardy explained that TRACIT is working with multiple domestic governments to impose stricter penalties on those involved in the illegal alcohol trade. "There are many things that can be done," he said. "We encourage governments to strengthen the enforcement of these laws, increase penalties, invest more resources in border controls, conduct more information campaigns, and so on. Because what's the point if a company invests in trying to stop the illegal trade, but the country doesn't have laws to support it?" TRACIT also recommends that governments incentivize local producers to legalize their alcohol brewing to ensure it meets health standards.
Meanwhile, Hardy said that the impact of large-scale methanol poisoning incidents like the one in Laos on the tourism industry may be enough to warn countries to tighten their laws. "If you're a legitimate business or a government, you don't want your tourism industry to be damaged by a few bad apples," Hardy added. "Or, if you're a hotel or restaurant owner in Bali, you see what happened in Laos and the resulting backlash... you say to yourself, 'I need to make sure my tourism business isn't affected by some suppliers or product purchasers cutting corners.'"
Hardy said he sympathizes with the Jones and Bowers families, who are working to ensure that the Lao government properly investigates the deaths of the two Australian teenagers. "I can't even imagine the helplessness they must be feeling," he added. "Their children were on what was supposed to be a fun trip."
