Be Careful With Your Drinks When Traveling: Multiple People Dead In Laos

Intro

If you happen to be a world traveler who loves to go with the flow and embrace the culture wherever you are, there is one thing you must keep in mind. All around the world, there are traditional alcoholic drinks that are unique to each country. For example, homemade Arak in Indonesia or under-the-counter rum in Grenada. However, it is important that we all be aware that there is a danger when it comes to drinking these homemade concoctions.

Multiple Dead In Laos: Methanol Poisoning

It pains me to write about this, but multiple people have been declared deceased after consuming methanol in the small town of Vang Vieng in Laos. All major alcohol brands add in ethanol, which isn't toxic to the human body, but occasionally, locally made brews will be made with methanol to cut corners on costs.

Be careful, you never know what they put in the bottle

While a full investigation is underway, it is believed that a couple of Danish women had taken free shots at a hostel in a Vang Vieng before heading out for the night. The hostel has denied the accusations that methanol was present in the Lao Vodka but has decided to stop serving free shots for now. Additionally, 3 more tourists have passed away in the recent month, presumably from the same cause.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of the deceased. I can't begin to imagine how difficult it is to lose a family member at that age.❤️

My Advice

Having drunk multiple local alcoholic brews and actually methanol before (a very small amount that was told to me after) from one of them, I wanted to share my advice on staying safe when drinking alcohol around the world.

1. While not foolproof, try to drink alcohol that is unopened before purchase. Obviously, with liquor, this is more of a challenge, but if you can, this will greatly reduce your risk. Secondly, in certain parts of the world, scopolamine can still be added to "closed bottles."

2. In general, do not drink alcoholic drinks from a shack on the side of the road. Think about this logically: if you go to a bar (cheap or expensive) that has many reviews on Google, they have more to lose from a problem with an alcoholic drink compared to a shack on the side of river tubing in Laos (an example).

3. If you are really that worried, avoid spirits, but especially the cheaper version of spirits, such as locally produced spirits such as rum or vodka.

There was a similar problem in Nigeria not too long ago

I am never one to shy away from a fun and local time of drinking alcohol. However, it is important to understand that there are risks involved when it comes to drinking alcohol, especially in less developed countries. Remember: do as I say, not as I do 😂. Methanol poisoning has been a consistent issue for years across the world, with the highest death rates coming from India but expanding as far as South America and across Africa and Asia.

Final Thoughts

Of course, your choices are your choices when it comes to what you decide to drink on a night out. While methanol poisoning isn't exactly common (especially with tourists), a tragic incident has occurred in Laos where at least 5 foreigners have passed away. I understand that once you have had 6 drinks, you don't care what it is in the 7th, but just keep in mind that you never know what is in an alcoholic drink. Even more so, bars have been known to heavily water down shots in less developed countries.

Once again, this was truly a tragic incident that occurred in Laos that breaks my heart to hear about. In many ways, life is spectacular, but sometimes, moments of tragedy occur, especially when we least expect it.