A growing awareness of the risk of accidental methanol poisoning in Southeast Asia is apparently changing backpacker drinking habits.
More young people travelling in the region now say they feel “extra cautious” and “scared” when drinking alcohol following a recent spike in the number of headlines about fatalities from methanol poisoning in the region.
Southeast Asia is a hotspot for young backpackers to travel, meet other tourists and party within a budget-friendly lifestyle — especially in hostels, which are hubs for gregarious travellers eager to swap stories and socialise.
However, with more deaths reported from methanol poisoning, the dark side of travelling in this part of the world is causing jitters.
Last December, six tourists died in Laos after drinking free shots laced with methanol. At least five were staying at The Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos.
Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19 and from Melbourne, Australia, were two of the victims. Celeste Evans, 21, from the same city, says the deaths “struck my heart”. Ms Evans has been travelling in Vietnam with 10 friends during their university holiday, bunking in homestays and hostels with ample opportunities to imbibe.
“Hearing about the deaths made me more cautious and scared because the girls were really close to my age,” she said. “The fact they were just trying to have fun, experience the world and weren’t doing anything they thought was particularly dangerous is really scary.”
Australia’s 9News reported that according to the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), fake or “unrecorded” alcohol can be found in 33% of alcoholic beverages consumed in Laos. MSF (Doctors Without Borders), meanwhile, says methanol poisoning is considered more prevalent across Southeast Asia than in any other region globally.
Earlier this month, a man was arrested for allegedly killing two tourists in Hoi An, Vietnam. They were found dead on Dec 26 after consuming a Limoncello cocktail made from medical alcohol, intended strictly for disinfection and not for consumption.
Ms Evans, who recently spent four days in Hoi An, said her drinking habits while travelling have changed compared to the last time she visited the country two years ago. The deaths of her compatriots from Melbourne were particularly influential.
“I was more nervous visiting Vietnam this time because back then I hadn’t heard about methanol poisoning this close to home,” said Ms Evans. “Now, the deaths are recent, so it changed how much I might drink on this trip.”
Alcohol-free shots
Free shots are not uncommon in hostels around Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Most hostels offer evening bar crawls through backpacking hotspots like Bangkok, Phuket and Pai in Mae Hong Son as well as cities in Vietnam like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.
These bar-hopping events often include free shots of an unknown liquor being poured into party-goers’ mouths straight from the bottle as they enter each bar.
The more bars travellers attend and the more alcohol they consume, the less they are able to protect themselves from the risk of methanol poisoning.
To keep safe while drinking, some travellers ask bar staff to take the alcohol shot first before consuming it themselves, a tactic to ensure the drink is safe.
However, symptoms of methanol poisoning appear 12–24 hours after exposure and can be delayed for up to 48 hours. Poisoning can also occur anywhere along the supply chain.
Methanol is a cheaper alternative to ethanol, the chemical that makes drinks alcoholic. However, methanol is poisonous, and as little as 60 millilitres can be deadly for adults. Illegal bootleggers add methanol due to its low cost, especially in countries where taxes on or prices of legitimate alcohol are high.
Some of the initial health effects of methanol poisoning include drowsiness, a reduced level of consciousness, nausea and vomiting. Ultimately, the toxicity can commonly cause blindness and death.
Ms Evans, who went on a bar crawl in Ho Chi Minh, said she and her friends have drunk while travelling, but they did their best to ensure everything was bottled. “We only kept to beers and alcohol we bought duty-free at the airport.”
A wake-up call
Max Nikolovski, 19, is also from Melbourne. He chose to solo backpack around Southeast Asia because of its well-organised backpacker infrastructure. “Hostels are social, always have bars and happy hours which cater to solo travelling,” said Mr Nikolovski.
In December, he was hostelling in the Philippines when the Melbourne teenagers, the same age as him, were poisoned. “It was a wake-up call,” said Mr Nikolovski, who explained that before the deaths, he had been consuming free alcohol from his hostel without considering where the spirit had come from. “The deaths amplified the awareness,” said Mr Nikolovski.
“Coming from Australia, you have this assumed safety and assumption that whatever you drink will be served safely, so it suddenly hit that it’s not such a give-in,” said Mr Nikolovski. Like Ms Evans, Mr Nikolovski said his recent trip has felt different to previous backpacking endeavours. “The risk has changed my perspective in how I treat backpacking and travelling,” he said.
Mr Nikolovski said the methanol poisoning risk makes travelling harder. “You are forced to balance being included socially versus being safe,” he said. “You can’t be at ease, which becomes a halt when travelling. It slows down your social interactions. Normally, alcohol is a social lubricant, and now there is more of an incentive not to drink,” he said.
In Hoi An, Mr Nikolovski went to a bar that gave you a free 300ml bottle of vodka if you bought a certain number of drinks. “The people I was with were stoked, but immediately to me, it felt like a red flag,” said Mr Nikolovski. “There is no assurance that that is safe. If it’s free, there is no incentive for the business to ensure it’s high quality.”
To keep safe, Mr Nikolovski sticks to drinking beer or being extra conscious of where he chooses to go.