Laos mass methanol poisoning: Holly and Bianca’s parents’ fury after no justice one year on
Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones’ parents have issued a heartbreaking plea for closure, while Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has added her call for justice and action to stop the threat.
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: The families of two Australian teenagers killed in a mass methanol poisoning in Laos are “demanding justice” amid claims of a police cover up from an “unhelpful and corrupt” Communist government.
Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones’ parents have issued a heartbreaking plea for closure, saying they have seen “no evidence” that Laos police had investigated their daughters’ deaths.
Six people, including Holly and Bianca, were killed in November last year when a suspected bad batch of local alcohol containing high levels of methanol were served as “free drinks” during happy hour.
The colourless, odourless poison, can kill if as little as 25ml, or a standard shot glass, is consumed.
It can also cause serious illness.
British tourist Calum Macdonald, who was drinking at the backpackers the night before Holly and Bianca were poisoned, went blind.
As the anniversary approaches of the deaths of Holly and Bianca – who were best friends and played together at the Beaumaris Football Club – their parents have issued a warning, saying they want to make sure “no other families endure this heartbreak”.
Shaun Bowles and Samantha Morton said they wanted Holly, who died in a Thai hospital on November 22, to be “remembered for who she is – kind, loving, funny” and “full of empathy”.
“We recognise how corrupt and unhelpful the Laos Government (is), there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest there is any type of investigation going on,” they said.
“(Our) hope is that Australians remove this county from their bucket list, your life is worth nothing over there and we have seen this first-hand as well as other families that have been involved in this tragedy.”
Speaking at a press conference, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said the parents’ frustrations were “very real” given the absence of “change happening at the end of the Laotian investigation”.
“We all want to see justice brought about in this instance, for both Bianca and Holly and their families,” Ms Allan said.
She said that there was an opportunity for “stopping this behaviour at the source” in Laos,
“I think that particularly concerns the family, that the behaviour, that the practice, hasn’t changed in the way it needs to and it should do,” she said.
Mark and Michelle Jones said that Bianca, who passed on November 21, had “so much ahead of her”.
“No family should ever have to go through this. To date, no individual or organisation has been held accountable,” they said.
“Our daughters’ killers remain free, facing no consequences. With little to no information coming from the Laotian authorities to the families or their governments, it appears these deaths of innocent young women may be forgotten, brushed aside and left unresolved.
“We must have justice. At the very least, they deserve that.”
Chatoulong Bouasisavath, the Lao ambassador to Australia based at their embassy in Canberra, did not respond to detailed written questions this week.
The questions included asking whether Laos police had charged anyone over Holly and Bianca’s deaths, whether police had told workers at the hostel had been told to leave after the incident, or whether police in the town had accepted bribes.
Speaking on Sunday, Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said the parents’ frustrations are “very real” given the absence of “change happening at the end of the Laotian investigation”.
“We all want to see justice brought about in this instance, for both Bianca and Holly and their families,” Ms Allan said.
She said that there was an opportunity for “stopping this behaviour at the source” in Laos,
“I think that particularly concerns the family, that the behaviour, that the practice, hasn’t changed in the way it needs to and it should do.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had “made it clear to my Lao counterpart that Australia expects full accountability.”
“Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones should still be with us. Their families are enduring unimaginable grief and deserve justice,” she said.
“We will continue to do everything we can to press for progress in this case and to raise awareness among young Australians of methanol poisoning and other alcohol related risks.”
Laos police did not accept help from the Australian Federal Police, which have officers based in the country to fight against the drug trade coming from the “Golden Triangle” a region on the borders of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar that produces tonnes of heroin and ice each year.
The AFP said in a statement this week that its offer to help was still available to Laos police.
“The AFP continues to liaise with law enforcement officials in Laos and offer our support with their investigations,” the AFP said.
It comes amid concerns about corruption in Laos.
Transparency International chief executive Clancy Moore said “Laos is definitely a corrupt prone jurisdiction.
“Unfortunately, in many South East Asian countries low-level bribery involving public officials like police is quite common.”
Danish tourists Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, and Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman 20, British lawyer Simone White, 28 and American James Louis Hutson, 57, were all staying at Nana Backpackers in Vang Vieng, when they died of methanol poisoning.
The budget travellers’ mecca on the Nam Song River is about two hours’ drive from the Laotian capital, Vientiane.
The area is popular with backpackers because of its spectacular cliffs and “tubing”, where revellers float down the river on tractor tyres and stop at a string of bars.
Many of the backpackers in the area offer cheap, or free drinks.
However, as many as one in three bottles of spirits consumed in Laos were “unsafe and unregulated” that exposed “consumers to significant health and safety risks”, an international study found.
Organised crime had also increasingly become involved in illicit alcohol trade, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit trade report claimed.
The Laos Government increased excise taxes to 110 per cent in 2023, which prompted a spike in home-brew alcohol as locals tried to avoid the jump in prices.
Some bars in Vang Vieng were still offering free drinks at happy hour, according to backpackers who spoke to this masthead in the tourist hotspot last month.
Grace, from Staffordshire, England, said she was sticking to bottled drinks.
“It’s scary, you don't want that to happen, I’m just trying to be as cautious as I can and not doing free shots,” she said.
Harvey, from Wales, UK, said: “We’ve stayed in chain hostels like Mad Monkey, so we haven’t seen free shots.”
Fabio, from Italy, who had spent a year in Australia before travelling to Vang Vieng, said he was only drinking beer, but had seen the free drinks.
“I don’t trust everything, beer is better. In a couple of places they were offering free shots, I don’t like that,” he said.
Breanna, a United States tourist, said “it was really sad what happened” but still wanted to “give Laos a chance”.
“I think Laos is worth coming to, I’m drinking beer but I mostly drink beer at home,” she said.
Laos’ Department of Tourism Development claimed that visitors had increased by 15 per cent this year, despite the global headlines caused by the methanol poisoning.
Laotian authorities were still promoting the “cliffs of Vang Vieng” in a report on a tourism review website, which did not mention the six deaths.
The Laos Government banned the sale of Tiger Vodka and Whisky after the methanol poisonings last year, but bottles were still seen on the streets of Vang Vieng when we visited last month.
There were 7530 Australians who visited Laos in 2024.
— with Brendan Kearns
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