Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles both died after drinking methanol-laced alcohol in Vang Vieng. Four other tourists – one from the UK, two from Denmark and one from the US – also died around the same time.

TRACIT director general Jeffrey Hardy told 9news.com.au the deaths forced an uncomfortable spotlight on a lucrative illegal alcohol market that continues to thrive.

“Some of these countries [in South-East Asia] have 20, 30, or 50 per cent of their markets illicit,” he said.

“There’s a lot of reports from Latin and South America, there’s a smattering of stories about deaths, poisonings, plus untold numbers of people who’ve been hospitalised.”

Hardy said legitimate and reputable alcohol companies can be left helpless by the monstrous illicit trade, which can involve smuggling, rogue manufacturers or even venues and bartenders who dilute the drink.

He warns these illicit substances can be added almost anywhere along the supply chain.

“It’s tragic, it could happen anywhere, really,” he said.

“It’s certainly not the legitimate producers, they’re doing everything they possibly can to secure those products from tampering of any kind.

“They’re very heavily associated with responsible drinking.

“They don’t even want tragedy associated with someone drinking too much and getting into a car wreck.”

Australian tourists, particularly those who frequent South-East Asian nations, have been put on alert since the Laos deaths.

There’s no guarantees it won’t happen again – even if travellers avoid street vendors and stick to their hotel bar.

It also wasn’t an isolated incident.

In 2020, one person died and six others were hospitalised in Vietnam’s Bac Giang province after consuming alcohol with high methanol content, which was labelled as locally produced glutinous rice wine.

In 2021, 11 people in Cambodia were killed after drinking toxic rice wine.

Hardy said the problem is “even worse” in India.

“In India, a lot of them happen in the provinces outside the main urban centres,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Australian tourists visit these countries each year, putting them at risk of coming into contact with an illicit substance masquerading as alcohol.

Hardy explained TRACIT is working with multiple domestic governments to enact stronger penalties for those who do engage in the illicit alcohol trade.

“There just a lot that can be done,” he said.

“We’re encouraging the government to have stronger enforcement of these laws, stronger penalties, better resources at border control, more information campaigns, things like that.

“Because if a company invests in trying to stop illicit trade and then there are no laws to support that in the country, what’s the point?”

TRACIT also recommends the government incentivise local producers to legalise their alcohol brewing to ensure it meets health standards.

Meanwhile, Hardy said the tourism consequence of mass methanol poisonings like what happened in Laos could be warning enough for countries to tighten their laws.

“If you’re a legitimate business or government, you don’t want your tourist industry compromised by literally a couple bad apples,” Hardy added.

“Or  if you’re a hotel or restaurant owner in Bali and you see what’s happening in Laos and the backlash… you’re saying to yourself, ‘I need to make sure my tourist business isn’t jeopardised by some supplier or product buyer cutting corners’.”

“I can’t even imagine the helplessness they must feel,” he added.

“Their kids were off on a fun trip.”