Lao backpacker avoids being shot after being suspected of poisoning

As the sun gradually sets behind the jagged peaks of Nam Xay Mountain, a group of colorful hot air balloons float over the Vang Vieng valley.

In the river below, young tourists laughed and splashed each other from their kayaks.

It’s not hard to see what attracts so many tourists to this small town in Central Laos. The scenery is stunning, the fun is cheap and abundant.

However, the town became the center of an international scandal after six tourists died last week from suspected methanol poisoning.

It is believed that their alcoholic beverages may contain methanol, an industrial chemical commonly used in bootleg alcohol.

For the crowds of young Western tourists on the backpacking trail of Southeast Asia, Vang Vieng has become famous for its so-called “tubes”. One person described it to me as like an underwater pub crawl.

Groups of friends wearing swimsuits and bikinis climb onto giant inner tubes often used on trucks and float downriver, occasionally stopping by riverside bars where they drink vodka freely, before plunging into the water. water.

When arriving in Vang Vieng, everyone was quite happy.

“I think we will miss this opportunity,” two 27-year-old women from Hertfordshire in England told me (they did not want to be named).

“Voice shots are part of the package, but no one wants to drink local vodka right now.”

The couple arrived here from Vietnam just as news of deaths from methanol poisoning was spreading around the world.

“In Vietnam, we have free drinks, especially when you play games in the evening,” one of them told me. “And we never thought about it, you just assumed what they gave you was safe. We drank buckets before, but we won’t risk it anymore and a lot of people here feel the same way.”

“Buckets” are exactly what they sound like – small plastic buckets filled with cheap vodka and other alcohol. Groups of friends share the mixture through long plastic straws.

“Now that this has happened, it really makes you think about it,” the woman’s friend said. “You wonder why the drinks are free? At the motel linked to the deaths, we heard they were giving out free vodka and whiskey for an hour every night. I think if that happened in England, you would definitely think it was sophisticated.”

Both women said they are currently focusing on drinking bottled or canned beer.

The deaths of six tourists sent shockwaves throughout the backpacking world. Young female travelers feel most vulnerable. Dead people included British Simone White28 year old, two young Australians, Holly Bowles and her best friend Bianca Jones, and two young Danish womenAnne-Sofie Orkild Coyman and Freja Vennervald Sorensen.

Only one of those killed, a 57-year-old American, James Louis Hutson, was male. On traveler chat groups, many people have questioned whether only women’s drinks are spiked with methanol. The truth is that it remains a mystery.

What we know is that all the victims were in the same place, The Nana Backpackers hostel. It has now been confirmed that the American victim was found dead in a bedroom there on November 13. The same morning, two Danish victims were found unconscious in the room and were taken to a local hospital. direction.

Today, the Nana dormitory was closed, and the swimming pool that held a pool party a few days ago was deserted. A short walk away, a bar called “JaiDees” was also raided. The owners of both have strongly denied serving any illegal or homemade alcohol.

Across the river there is little sign that toxins are preventing people from reaching Vang Vieng. The end of November is the peak tourist season. The rainy season is over, the sky is clear and the temperature is a relatively cool 28C (82F).

Along the main drag motel owner told me they were fully booked. Young tourists from Europe and Australia are truly in the minority. By far the largest groups come from neighboring Thailand and China, the latter moving south on the new Chinese-built Laos high-speed railway.

Vang Vieng is still a dusty rural town. But it’s exploding. Local business owners zip by in big black cruisers and long-range expedition vehicles. As I walked back to the hotel on Saturday night, I was startled by the loud exhaust sound of a Lamborghini driving down Vang Vieng’s only main street.

Twenty years ago this was a sleepy little town surrounded by rice fields. Now it is being converted into Thai and Chinese currencies. Fancy new hotels are popping up with riverside cocktail bars and infinity pools.

But young Western backpackers don’t come here for the five-star experience, they come for the friendly atmosphere.

At a local motorbike rental shop, I met two recent graduates from the University of Sussex.

Ned from Somerset said he has no intention of canceling plans because of what happened. “Everyone is definitely scared,” he said, “but I don’t feel like anyone is leaving. Everyone is still here and having a good time.”

He added: “But everyone is saying the same thing, don’t drink hard alcohol, so people be careful, there’s definitely that feeling in the air, but I think it’s actually quite safe at the moment because All the bars are at the edge, no one wants to go to jail.”

His friend, Jack, was also unfazed. “We came here to meet some friends and have fun, and we’re still going to do that,” he said. “I’ve been here for a week and I can tell you that the people here are absolutely wonderful. so lovely. They are some of the nicest people we have met in all of Southeast Asia. So whatever happened, I don’t think there was anything malicious.”

Malicious or not, six people died, five of them young women.

The shockwaves from what happened here have spread around the world to suburban homes from London to Melbourne, where worried parents with young children on backpacking trips are frantically texting, Check where they are and try to convince them not to go to Vang Vieng. .