Deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles draw scrutiny to methanol-laced drinks in South-East Asia

While paying tribute to Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones, who died of methanol poisoning on a holiday in Laos earlier this week, the prime minister called it "every parent's worst fear".

But really, it is every Australians'.

A fear and a realisation that it could have been any one of us.

A nation of travellers, a nation of drinkers, a nation in a neighbourhood of lax alcohol regulation.

No-one felt this more than those who have survived methanol poisoning before, those lucky few who lived to tell just how terrifying it is.

'I feel guilty that I got off so lucky'

Perth man Bailey Chalmers has been watching with a heavy heart the news of the mass methanol poisoning in Laos that has claimed the lives of at least five people.

"It's definitely triggering," he told the ABC.

"And I guess I feel a bit guilty that I got off so lucky, and everyone else that I hear about doesn't seem to. It's super sad."

The young DJ was just 19 years old when he went on a footy trip to Bali five years ago that started like countless others.

"I had a couple of shots, and then that was pretty much blackout for me, didn't really remember anything after that," he told the ABC.

The next day, he woke with what he assumed was a bad hangover but was actually his body shutting down from methanol poisoning.

"I guess when you're hungover, you just have so many symptoms, nauseous, headache, feel dizzy, disorientated, you kind of just think it's a hangover.

"The symptoms are pretty similar to hangover symptoms. That's why I think a lot of people don't kind of pick up on it.

"But the blurred vision for me, which was kind of getting like to the point where I couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of me was when I was like, 'Okay, this is different to a regular hangover, there's obviously something wrong here.'"

Chalmers went to hospital in Bali and then flew home to Perth where he got further treatment at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

A doctor there told him the last patient they had seen with methanol poisoning was Liam Davies, another young man who died after drinking a cocktail in Bali laced with the chemical in 2013.

"It's super sad and I just think there's not enough awareness out there for it," Chalmers said.

"It's just a shame that it takes people to die for the awareness to start happening, but it's definitely very triggering … and it's a big eye opener of how lucky I really was."

The problem of methanol-laced drinks in South-East Asia

One of the people who had helped Chalmers survive was Colin Ahearn, who started a social media page to raise awareness about the risks of consuming tainted drinks after meeting Davies's family and being deeply moved by their story.

Methanol poisoning has long been a problem in South-East Asia, with incidents reported across the region, including in Thailand and Indonesia.

"My first reaction when I read the news reports (this week) was yet again, there's going to be another family that's devastated," he told the ABC.

"Here's another two girls struck down doing something they should be able to do.

"They've done nothing dumb here at all. They've gone overseas. They're backpacking.

"They're just simply having some drinks at a place where they're staying, and all of a sudden, it's a life threatening situation."

The cluster of methanol poisoning cases this week has sent shock waves around the world and raised concerns about the possible dangers of drinking in parts of South-East Asia.

It's believed up to 14 people fell gravely ill after drinking in Vang Vieng and the victims come from all corners of the globe - Australia, New Zealand, the UK, US, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Ahearn said he has helped dozens of tourists over the years who have found themselves in trouble after drinking questionable drinks.

It's important people learn to recognise the signs, he said.

"If you're with somebody, most people will be vomiting, most people will have diarrhoea, it'll probably be five or 10 hours after their last drink," he said.

"Then what'll happen is … the methanol will kick in, and that will start to attack the soft tissues in your body, whether that's your liver, your kidney, you brain, your eyes, all sorts of nasty nasty stuff.

"It's excruciating pain if you do get a major dose of methanol poisoning and really you do need to seek medical attention reasonably quickly."

Travellers issued with new warnings when overseas

Many countries, including Australia, have issued fresh warnings to travellers to be careful about drinking in Laos in the aftermath of the deaths of Jones and her friend Holly Bowles.

The government's Smart Traveller alert now states:

"Several foreign nationals, including Australians, have been the victims in November 2024 of methanol poisoning through consuming alcoholic drinks.

"Be alert to the potential risks particularly with spirit-based drinks including cocktails."

This is a tragedy being felt around the world and with so many countries now involved, pressure is mounting on authorities in Laos to investigate how a rite of passage for so many young Australians could have become deadly.

- ABC