Dark side of the Laos backpacker trail: Drug-fueled hedonism in a Communist backwater where drugs are sold at restaurants and 27 party-seeking tourists died in a year

For decades it was seen as Thailand’s smaller, sleepier and safer neighbor.

But Laos has become increasingly popular with tourists, including Western backpackers, and that popularity comes at a price.

Once famous for temples and processions of Buddhist monks, some of the larger cities are now firmly entrenched on the backpacker trail, but also suffer from record levels of crime and drug-related violence.

Vang Vieng in particular has become known as a party town for teenagers and twenty-somethings looking for hedonism and adrenaline sports.

The former farming village is now at the center of an investigation after five travelers died after drinking shots believed to be laced with methanol, a cheaper form of alcohol that can cause serious poisoning or death.

It is Vang Vieng’s second taste of fame. The city previously made headlines in 2011 for the deaths of tourists while ‘tubing’ while riding on the Nam Song River in an inflated tractor inner tube.

Dilapidated bars sprang up along the banks of the river, all vying to lure backpackers with free shots of the local Lao-Laotian rice whisky.

Enterprising bar owners set up rope swings, makeshift zip lines and rickety water slides for gap year revelers to play on, throwing ropes to the ‘tubers’ so they could be pulled in for drinks or ‘happy’ milkshakes laced with hallucinogens.

Victims of methanol poisoning, Bianca Jones (left) who has sadly passed away, and her friend Holly Bowles (right), who is fighting for her life in hospital, were seen at Jaidee’s Bar in Vang Vieng just hours before being rushed to the were taken to hospital.

Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, sadly died after consuming so-called ‘methanol-laced’ drinks in Vang Vieng, Laos

The combination of cheap alcohol, a party atmosphere and river games proved extremely popular on the so-called Banana Pancake Trail, a well-trodden path through Southeast Asia for budget travelers.

The Lonely Planet guidebook described tubing as “one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit.”

Vang Vieng – a four-hour bus journey from Vientiane, the capital of Laos – became so popular that at one point backpackers outnumbered locals three to one.

But soon reports emerged of travelers dying, either from drowning or drinking, or from diving into the river from bars and hitting their skulls on rocks.

Laos is a one-party communist state, and strict controls over the media meant that deaths often went unreported.

But authorities finally launched a crackdown in 2011 after 27 tourists were reportedly killed in Vang Vieng in one year.

British tourist Benjamin Light, 23, from Bournemouth, drowned after jumping from a rope swing into the river during a tubing trip.

His research showed that participants were given alcohol at various stops along the river.

WhatsApp messages have since revealed that the pair then left the hostel and traveled 950 meters to the beach bar

Ms Bowles (pictured) was on holiday with her school friend in the popular backpacking destination Vang Vieng

Simone White, 28, from Orpington in Kent, is the fifth tourist to die after falling ill last week

Mr Light is said to have remained underwater for ‘a while’ before crawling back onto the riverbank.

He managed to get up, but then immediately fell back and his eyes ‘rolled back’ and he could not be revived. A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

A former Slough pub owner, Michael O’Sullivan, 39, died on his honeymoon in 2009 during a tubing trip with his new bride Ilana in Vang Vieng.

Travel expert Gwen Engler, who runs the blog Thefullpassport.com, said she was shocked by a visit to Vang Vieng in 2011.

She said: ‘Loud, rowdy, scantily clad people flooded the town, many struggling to keep their balance and/or upright.

‘Waiting to embrace them were streets lined with noisy bars and restaurants offering cheap drinks; ‘cheerful’ menus full of marijuana, magic mushrooms and opium in all kinds of forms.’

She continued: ‘It seemed that the whole purpose of being there was to be obliterated as quickly and efficiently as possible… The entire city seemed to have evolved to serve the hedonistic pleasures of the tourist hordes, flying at alarming wise in the face of the values ​​and social mores of this conservative, communist country.’

After the 2011 crackdown, riverside bars were closed, drugs were removed from menus in ‘happy’ cafes and tight controls were imposed on snake operators.

Tourists were encouraged to visit the region’s beautiful limestone karsts, caves and waterfalls instead of the bars, and strict limits were imposed on the number of snakes.

The crackdown was hailed as a success and record numbers of tourists continued to come, without the temptation of 24-hour partying and tubing.

But Laos remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, and alcohol and drugs are cheap, especially by Western standards.

Using the country as a conduit to wealthier neighbors, traffickers have flooded it with methamphetamine, with pills selling for as little as 20 cents.

Crime rates have also risen, as have attacks on tourists, with visitors reporting robberies and armed robberies.

Overall, crime rates are up 28 percent in 2022, with drug-related crime accounting for almost two-thirds of all cases.

Possession and use of drugs can be punishable by death.

Hostel manager and bartender Duong Duc Toan (pictured) claims it wasn’t his Tiger Vodka that made the girls sick

Staff at Nana Backpackers Hostel have been questioned by police who have demanded that bottles of liquor be served on the night the poisoning occurred

Laos experienced a wave of civil unrest in 2022 and 2023, amid an economic crisis. Such unrest is rare in the country, where protests and demonstrations are illegal.

Another hidden danger dates back to the Vietnam War, when the US used air bases in Laos, including in Vang Vieng, and bombed suspected supply lines in the south.

Some areas still contain unexploded cluster bombs and landmines, although tourist regions are said to be safe.

The Foreign Ministry’s travel advice for the country is to avoid the central province of Xaisomboun, following armed clashes with anti-government groups.

It warns that male and female tourists have reported having their food or drinks spiked with drugs, and that travelers should be cautious about accepting liquor-based drinks following the recent methanol poisonings.