Australian Government Raises Laos Travel Alert After Methanol Poisoning Deaths

The Australian government has increased its travel alert level for Laos, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to the risk of methanol poisoning.

It comes as a distillery owner in Laos was charged after a mass methanol poisoning incident killed six foreign nationals, including the Australian backpackers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles.

“We’ve reviewed our advice for Laos and have raised the overall travel advice level,” the Smartraveller update said. “We now advise: exercise a high degree of caution due to crime, the risk of methanol poisoning and ongoing concerns around lack of transparency in the justice system.”

The distillery owner could serve just three months in jail after a court in Laos announced charges over the case.

The Australian teenagers, who were both 19, were travelling through south-east Asia when they were fatally poisoned with methanol while drinking at Nana backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng.

Two Danish women, a British woman and an American man also died in the incident in November 2024.

The court said the charges were selling food that is harmful to health and operating an illegal business, making the accused liable to a prison sentence of between three months and four years and a fine if found guilty, Denmark’s foreign ministry announced Friday, citing authorities in Laos.

It also said the case will formally remain open for 15 years, and charges can still be brought for a more serious offence, such as negligent homicide, if proof is sufficient. It did not say if the charges were related to all the deaths.

The statement from the Danish government did not identify the accused or say what the defendant had pleaded to the charges.

The announcement of charges was made at the ministry of public security in Vientiane, the Danish government said. A request from Associated Press for entry to cover the proceedings was not approved.

The families of the Australian women had feared that the charges would be light and had expressed their anger ahead of the confirmation on Friday.

Danish and Australian officials voiced their disappointment and are seeking justice for the victims.

Holly’s father, Shaun Bowles, who had been briefed on the likely charges, said on Friday that he was devastated that the charges did not reflect the seriousness of the case.

“It is devastating news to us,” he said.

“It’s like their lives didn’t even matter,” said Bianca Jones’ mother, Michelle. “We’re just really appalled by it all. You know, they were just going over to have a bit of fun and just doing the rite of passage that every, you know, child or teenager does. So for that outcome, it was just devastating.”

Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said in a statement Friday morning that she was “deeply frustrated and bitterly disappointed” that authorities were not pursuing “the most serious charges” in relations to the women’s deaths.

Wong and Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, had dispatched an envoy to Laos on Friday “to convey the Australian government’s objections and reinforce our expectations for an investigation that delivers justice for Holly, Bianca and the other victims of the methanol poisoning”, the minister said. Australian officials had also summoned Laos’ ambassador to Canberra, she added.

The Danish foreign ministry statement cited the country’s foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, as declaring he was deeply disappointed that the indictment did not reflect the seriousness and extent of the tragedy affecting so many families.

He acknowledged it can be complicated to meet the precise burden of proof required to bring the most serious charges in such a case, but also pointed out that it is difficult to come to terms with such a lenient indictment.

Rasmussen said that now his office will work with the relatives and other affected countries to discuss their next moves in the case.

The victims had been staying at the Nana Backpacker hostel, where some reportedly consumed “free shots” of Laotian vodka before heading out to other venues.

When the Australian teenagers failed to check out as planned, they were found sick in their room and eventually evacuated to hospitals in neighboring Thailand, where they later died.