Methanol Cocktails Leave Two Australian Women Critically ill in Thailand

[madone]

13 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Is that possible? Fermentation produces Ethanol only, otherwise you wouldn't be able to drink wine or beer.

https://www.barisonindustry.com/en/news/methanol-what-it-is-and-how-it-is-handled-in-distillation-processes#:~:text=Methanol is a natural product,preparation of jams (E440).

Methanol is present as a part of fermentation, however distillation concentrates it. 

beer and wine contain methanol, but in safe concentrations.

Edited Tuesday at 04:10 AM by madone

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, madone said:

 

good to see you focus on the important questions. 

No, I focus on the important facts, and their ex-schools have nothing to do with what happened.

[Pattaya57]

8 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

No, I focus on the important facts, and their ex-schools have nothing to do with what happened.

Geez, it's to give the reader an idea of who the victims are to add more feeling/sympathy for them. In this case two 19 year old girls just out of high school are now on life support after a Laos bar was giving out free 'vodka' shots

 

Edited Tuesday at 05:28 AM by Pattaya57

[KannikaP]

28 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Geez, it's to give the reader an idea of who the victims are to add more feeling/sympathy for them. In this case two 19 year old girls just out of high school are now on life support after a Laos bar was giving out free 'vodka' shots

 

Agree, but we don't really need to know WHICH high schools they were out of, or even which city, except that they were Australian, although, does that really matter either, English, French, American, etc etc. in order to give sympathy and abhorrence at what happened to them.

A bit off topic, but in many news reports, they say that the names of the victims have been changed to 'protect their identity'.

But of course, only people who actually know them will know who they are, and people who do not know them will not know their real names anyway. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, madone said:

 

not what you said tho was it?

but thanks for the advice there captain obvious. 

Your welcome, let me know if I can help you with anything else.

[Pattaya57]

25 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Agree, but we don't really need to know WHICH high schools they were out of, or even which city, except that they were Australian, although, does that really matter either, English, French, American, etc etc. in order to give sympathy and abhorrence at what happened to them.

Of course the nationality matters in a story like this. I read every story I could find on these two because they were fellow Aussies.

 

Sadly I also read 2 other tourists apparently died from same incident

 

Either Danish?

It is understood at least two Danish women in their 20s have died, and at least 10 have fallen ill after drinking the tainted alcohol.

 

Or Swedish?

 

Edited Tuesday at 06:30 AM by Pattaya57

[VR333]

3 hours ago, Keeps said:

When you see these roadside cocktail stalls knocking out a cocktail with maybe 3 or 4 shots of spirits for 60-80 baht do you really think the spirits are going to be the 'real deal'?

I wouldn't expect to get poisoned drinking alcohol from some roadside stall, even in Laos. Watered down drinks, cheap local spirits substituted for brand names etc, sure. It happens in Thailand, probably even in some legit bars. Whenever I've heard of people dying from drinking dodgy alcohol, it's usually been a wedding celebration in some poor village in rural India. Student backpackers aren't going to be aware of this type of danger; I know I wasn't until I read this news. 

[VR333]

58 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Of course the nationality matters in a story like this. I read every story I could find on these two because they were fellow Aussies.

Agreed. This sad story is the lead item on every Victorian TV news broadcast tonight. The schools the girls went to are good schools in an affluent Melbourne bayside area, so it's suggesting they were probably responsible girls. The Federal Minister for Social Services commenting on this isn't something you see often. Channel Nine News reported the girls as being in a "grave condition." I hope they're wrong.

[ChaiyaTH]

Once got this crap in a bucket on phi phi islands, while I can drink a lot and that was my first few sips. Results were not pretty, I basically gave the entire bungalow a new floor layer of puke. Didn't even know what to say to the cleaners except by holding 500 baht, but they looked at me as if it was a every day thing. As if they know exactly what the limit is to not hospitalize you.

[BangkokReady]

5 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Why do we need to be told which schools they left last year?

 

To fool you into thinking that you've read an interesting and informative article.

[BangkokReady]

19 hours ago, AnnaBanana said:

Innocents abroad.

It seldom ends well when they leave their group tours.

The wrong kind of people often see them coming.

 

So you think they were targeted and given dodgy booze specifically because they were young innocent tourists?  And wiser people would have known it was dodgy?

[madone]

4 hours ago, KannikaP said:

No, I focus on the important facts, and their ex-schools have nothing to do with what happened.

 

Explain to me again why local Australian news outlets would not provide that meaningful context for their local readership.

[Pattaya57]

It's two young ladies from Denmark that died from same drinking 😞

 

"A statement from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can confirm that two Danish citizens have passed away in Laos."

Edited Tuesday at 04:04 PM by Pattaya57

[KannikaP]

14 hours ago, madone said:

 

Explain to me again why local Australian news outlets would not provide that meaningful context for their local readership.

OK, local Aus News, but not in a lead story on AN.

[stoutfella]

On 11/19/2024 at 10:56 AM, mokwit said:

Is that possible? Fermentation produces Ethanol only, otherwise you wouldn't be able to drink wine or beer.

I think you'll find many knowledgeable people disagreeing with and correcting that statement.

[Briggsy]

For those unfamiliar, Vang Vieng is a lot more backpacker-oriented than other destinations in Laos (and Thailand). Think something like Pai. There is a lot of competition to get the custom into specific bars and restaurants. This "free vodka shot" idea seems to have been very ill-conceived.

 

It would be interesting to hear from anyone on the ground in Vang Vieng what the response from the government has been.

[Pattaya57]

A third person has been reported as dying from this incident. This one a man from US

 

The US State Department on Thursday confirmed the death of one of its citizens in Vang Vieng, a tourist town where at least 10 people became seriously ill last week from drinking spirits believed to be laced with methanol

[SAFETY FIRST]

Aussie Girl Dies 

 

https://7news.com.au/news/melbourne-teenager-bianca-jones-dies-after-falling-ill-from-methanol-cocktail-poisoning-c-16827447?utm_campaign=7news&utm_content=7NEWS+Sydney&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawGriyVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdrUkqFNHY51hQ6HcE-5DGlcLbyUewlKNSPvzcPzcsLG82Whp4aGG4AdVQ_aem_nY1VlP5r57NVfvm9l9rF6A

 

Edited 10 hours ago by SAFETY FIRST

[Rolo89]

4 dead and 5 still on life support, all over a free shot.

 

I can see this really hitting the tourism in SEA for years to come. Europeans and Aussies becoming aware of just how dangerous it can be over here and how appalling standards are.