A trip to Southeast Asia, which takes a breath away with its natural scenery, and has been praised more than once for its delightful simplicity and easy approach to life, can become not only the most beautiful adventure of a lifetime, but also the last, writes the British broadcaster BBC.
When Brit Calum Macdonald arrived at the Vietnamese border, he was unable to read the documents that had to be filled out. If until then it seemed to him that the strange feelings were caused by the party the previous day, then at this moment the young man realized that something more serious had happened. Macdonald had just got off the bus that brought him and his friends from a popular entertainment spot in Laos. There, the young people had stayed in a hostel that offered free shots of whiskey and vodka.
However, as MacDonald told BBC Breakfast, they still decided the strange light sensitivity was caused by food poisoning and sought help only in Vietnam. “My friends and I were sitting in a hotel room and I said, ‘Why are we sitting in the dark? Someone should turn on the lights.’” However, the lights were already on.
The 23-year-old, who is now blind, is one of several victims who were poisoned by methanol in Laos in November 2024. Six of the victims died. All the victims stayed at the Nana Backpacker hostel in Van Vieng.
McDonald is now helping families whose members did not survive the methanol poisoning,
and they are calling on the Foreign Office to warn more clearly about the dangers of travelling to Southeast Asian countries where methanol poisoning is common.
One of the victims who lost her life was Simone White. The day after MacDonald and her friends left the hostel, White drank free drinks there. She had previously texted her mother that this was the best holiday she had ever been on. Then White ended up in hospital, and her friend informed her mother. Later, she called again to say that White had fallen into a coma.
White’s mother, Sue, bought a plane ticket to get to her daughter, but before the plane took off, she received a call from her daughter’s doctor, who said that she needed urgent brain surgery. The 28-year-old woman later died in hospital. The cause of death was methanol poisoning.
Methanol is a type of alcohol commonly found in cleaning products, fuel and antifreeze.
It is similar to ethanol, which is an ingredient in alcoholic drinks, but is much more toxic because when it is processed in the body, it produces substances that affect the functioning of the nerves and internal organs. Improperly produced alcoholic beverages can contain methanol, and it’s a well-known problem in Southeast Asia, where hundreds of people are poisoned every year.
Drinking a drink containing methanol can cause dizziness, fatigue, headaches and nausea. The symptoms can be similar to a hangover, which is why it is so difficult to recognize that poisoning has occurred, rather than simply drinking too much. More serious symptoms, such as seizures and vision problems, appear 12 to 48 hours later. In severe cases, it can lead to complete blindness and coma. The lethal dose of methanol is just 30 milliliters. If methanol poisoning is detected early, up to 30 hours after drinking, a person can still be saved.
It is not just free drinks that are dangerous. Kirsty McKie has worked and lived in Bali for eight years and was enjoying drinks at home with a friend before going out for a night out. Her friend said that the next day they both had particularly bad hangovers, and a day later McKie was hospitalized. She did not survive.
A woman in Sumatra lost her life after drinking gin.
It was later discovered that the methanol content in the drink was 66,000 times higher than the legal limit.
MacDonald advised tourists to avoid free drinks, and spirits in general. The young man said that Southeast Asia has a fairly wide range of beer to enjoy.
On the night he himself was poisoned by methanol, MacDonald met two young Danish women who later died, and he said that the news of the girls’ deaths changed his perspective. His initial desire was to hide, and he was depressed by the thought that life was not worth living, but then he realized that he was very lucky. “I realised that as a survivor, it was my duty to try to make sure that this didn’t happen to anyone else,” added MacDonald.
The UK Foreign Office has described counterfeit alcohol and methanol poisoning as a serious problem in some parts of the world, and is working with local authorities and the travel industry to address the issue.
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