The worst phone call of her life was one Bethany Clarke had to make to her best friend Simone White’s mum.
They were in hospital in Laos after just a few days backpacking in the country. Simone needed urgent brain surgery after alcoholic drinks laced with methanol they consumed at the hostel where they were staying left her with life-threatening poisoning.
“I had to ring Sue and tell her,” Bethany, 29, who had been friends with Simone, 28, since they were five, says.
For Sue, who lives in the UK, an urgent flight was booked, a mad dash across the world followed and she got there just as her daughter was being wheeled into surgery, her blonde hair shaved, fighting for her life.
“The surgery [to reduce the swelling in her brain] went as planned but then they needed to do an MRI to see what was going on on the other side of her brain,” Bethany says.
“When they did that they realised that side was swelling as well.”
Tragically, on November 21, 2024, Sue had to make the devastating decision to switch off her daughter’s life support.
Not the only one
It was a story that quickly made international news, shocking young travellers and their parents across the globe.
Many had never heard of methanol poisoning or realised that in some countries there was a risk of the chemical being added to drinks, particularly spirits, as a cheaper option to alcohol.
As other cases, and five more methanol poisoning deaths from the same place emerged, it became a crisis with politicians jumping in and demanding answers and action.
For Bethany, who lives in Brisbane, it was the most traumatic time of her life, particularly as she was also struggling with the effects of the same methanol poisoning that had killed her friend.
“My brain wasn’t even working,” she says.
“I was having to try my best to tell everybody what’s going on and Simone had so many friends to communicate with. It was totally overwhelming. It just felt like my worst nightmare and I was having panic attacks on the floor.”
Bethany was also grappling with how she’d survived when Simone hadn’t.
The girls had both drunk the same vodka shots from their backpacker hostel but for whatever reason Bethany had been lucky, particularly as she discovered later, drinking as little as 25ml of methanol can be fatal.
“I think I had the idea methanol poisoning was only [in drinks] brewed up by locals,” Bethany says.
“We weren’t buying drinks from some random on a street corner or in their house. We were buying it from the hostel bar.”
Sadly, that trust was misplaced, as it was later discovered that methanol was in the spirits being poured at their hostel – the Nana Backpacker Hostel.
Initially, there was hope those responsible might be held accountable but in July 2026 Laos authorities revealed they would only be charging those who served the drinks with minor offences.
“It’s a communist dictatorship and when we left we were told it was very unlikely we’re going to see justice for Simone,” Bethany says.
It’s made Bethany all the more determined to put her efforts into an awareness campaign to prevent other travellers facing what they did.
Lost loved ones
Launching what is now the MethaKnow campaign in the months after Simone’s death, Bethany has been the public face, speaking to media and helping parents and young people navigate the issue.
She’s connected with families across the globe who have also lost loved ones to methanol poisoning and seen the extent of the issue.
“In the lead-up to schoolies, if you’re going overseas I’d say stick to bottles you can open yourself and avoid spirits as much as you can,” she says.
“With symptoms, the window can be anywhere from 12 hours up to about 48 hours, but if you’re feeling any breathlessness, vision problems and gastro symptoms get to hospital straight away. Do not try to sleep it off as you won’t survive the night.”
Two years on she misses her bubbly friend Simone as much as ever.
“She would have probably got married and had kids and done all of the sort of normal things,” she says.
“She did live a very busy and full life, and I suppose that’s one thing that we can be grateful for. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing for Simone.”
Bianca & Holly
Six backpackers died as a result of methanol poisoning in the Laotian tourist town of Vang Vieng in November 2024.
In addition to Simone, two Danish women, a US tourist and Melbourne teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19, were killed.
In 2025 the Australian government launched a new safety campaign to raise awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol overseas.
The Smartraveller website now hosts resources to educate Australians of the signs of methanol poisoning, as well as on broader alcohol safety.
For more information, visit smartraveller.gov.au
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