Drinking Safely in Southeast Asia – Essential Tips for Travellers on a Budget

Drinking safely in Southeast Asia starts with saying no to free shots, local moonshine, bar crawls, and drinks sold in buckets. Stick to cans and screw-top bottles, buy liquor from supermarkets and 7-Elevens, and sip at bars and pubs where locals and expats drink. Drinking and partying is a big part of an Asian backpacking adventure, but as the tragic deaths of travellers from methanol poisoning in Laos have shown, it can also be the most dangerous part.

Update 9 December 2025: if you’re travelling to Cambodia and Thailand for the upcoming high season see our post on Is It Safe to Travel to Thailand and Cambodia? An Explainer on the conflict on the border area. The situation escalated yesterday, but it shouldn’t affect your Southeast Asia travel plans as tensions are focused on the border. It’s still important to stay informed. We’re monitoring the situation and will update that post as things change.

Until the recent deaths from methanol poisoning of six travellers in Vang Vieng, Laos, when we’d get asked about drinking safely in Southeast Asia, the questions usually referred to how safe the water is to drink in Southeast Asia, and how safe Southeast Asia is for solo women travellers, not how to avoid dying from drinking and methanol poisoning on a night out.

If anything good is to come of the tragedy, it will be to raise awareness of the risks of partying on the cheap in Southeast Asia. Many travellers to Southeast Asia get a little obsessed with the safety of drinking water (when in fact tap water is safe to drink in many Asian cities now) while women travelling solo in Southeast Asia worry about their drinks being spiked when they go out (when there’s probably a greater chance of that happening at home rather than abroad).

That’s not to dismiss either concerns, which are legitimate – nobody wants to get sick or get a disease from drinking contaminated water, and we all know why women’s drinks get spiked. There’s reason to be cautious. But alcohol poisoning in Southeast Asia is a problem that travellers needs do need to be worried about. There’s a reason those hangovers are so nasty.

It’s been reported that a dozen other travellers fell ill the same night as the six travellers who died. It’s also been reported and discussed on Facebook pages and groups that many travellers who’ve fallen ill, even gravely ill, after a big night out in Vang Vieng have made their own way to a hospital, and even flown home, without reporting the incident to authorities or to the media.

While it’s not yet known where the travellers drank the lethal drinks, methanol poisoning deaths aren’t uncommon in Asia – and many other countries, according to Doctors Without Borders, which documents methanol poisonings. The highest incidents have been in Iran, India, Russia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Vietnam, Libya, Ecuador, and Pakistan, however, there have been methanol poisonings everywhere from Thailand to South Africa in recent years.

Should travellers avoid those places? No. Sadly, it’s mostly locals who die from methanol poisoning; all the more tragically, often at wedding parties from contaminated moonshine. Recent methanol poisonings in Bangkok followed a Saturday night out in Min Buri, best known as the home to Kwan-Riam floating market, and resulted in 18 moonshine shops being closed, while in South Africa two years ago, 21 teens died in a bar at a birthday party cum end-of-exams celebration.

Travellers to Southeast Asia can avoid methanol poisoning by following some rules, starting with always saying no to free shots, local moonshine and any drinks served in buckets. We’ve got lots more tips to drinking safely in Southeast Asia, a region we’ve lived in and have been writing on for 16 years, with lots of suggestions for backpackers and budget conscious travellers who want to drink cheaply but safely.

Drinking Safely in Southeast Asia Starts with Saying No to Free Shots and Moonshine

The recent deaths of the six travellers in Laos has hit hard, the loss of life all the more heartbreaking because of the youth of five of the travellers. All in their 20s and on their first Southeast Asia backpacking adventure; a trip of a lifetime meant to be marked by moments of joy, rather than end in tragedy.

If there’s something good to come of the tragedy, it’s raised awareness around the globe of the prevalence of illicit alcohol and moonshine, sometimes contaminated with methanol, offered in the form of free shots and cheap drinks to young unsuspecting travellers in Southeast Asia. Hopefully the global media coverage will result in greater education and even greater regulation.

So Should Travellers to Southeast Asia Avoid Alcohol Entirely?

No. For many travellers, some of their fondest travel memories involve sipping something somewhere, whether it’s a chilled glass of Margaret River wine overlooking Cable Beach before savouring your first Broome sunset, or that first swig of icy Beer Lao at an alfresco Luang Prabang bar on the Mekong River after exploring mosaic covered pagodas in the blazing March heat. They’re two of my memories, so I’m no exception.

I have countless treasured travelling moments with Terence that have been with glasses in our hands: swilling mojitos in the sunshine on Havana’s Morro Castle ramparts on our first trip to Cuba, hugging huge micheladas in crowded Mexico City markets, sipping sundowners to the beat of drums on a hilltop on safari in Kenya, and sipping caipirinhas at a Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood bar on a moonlit night overlooking glassy Guanabara Bay.

Southeast Asia is home to countless outstanding bars and pubs, serving up creative cocktails and craft beers, both in hotels and independently ran, that serve legal liquor that’s perfectly safe to drink. You’ll find atmospheric cocktail bars in Siem Reap (we love Miss Wong) and garden bars in Phnom Penh illuminated by fairy-lights (WILD) to boisterous bia hoi pubs in Hanoi (see our favourites in the guide on that link) and rooftop bars in Bangkok where the only thing that will make you dizzy is the breathtaking view (too many to name).

For young travellers on a tight budget, while drinks at good bars, pubs and nightclubs will be more expensive than drinks at traveller bars and backpacker bars, you’ll still find alcoholic drinks comparatively cheaper than pubs and bars at home if you’re from Australia, North America, the UK or Europe.

Plus you’ll probably get to meet interesting expats and locals in those bars. And that’s one of our top tips to drinking safely in Southeast Asia; drink at pubs and bars where expats and locals drink. Locals and expats will not drink at bars and pubs serving illicit booze that people have fallen ill or died from. Word spreads fast. I guarantee you that most expats and locals in Vang Vieng wouldn’t drink at traveller bars.

Should Travellers Stop Going to Vang Vieng or even Laos?

No. Laos is a beautiful country, and Luang Prabang is spellbinding (and one of our favourite places in Southeast Asia), while the Laotians or Lao people are some of the kindest, sweetest and friendliest people we’ve met in 16 years of living in and travelling Southeast Asia as guidebook authors and a food and travel writer and photographer team.

Vang Vieng is a beautiful town on the Nam Song River, set amidst spectacular limestone karsts, lush lofty mountains, with inviting aquamarine lagoons, as well as caves to explore and waterfalls to cool off under. It’s no surprise that Vang Vieng has long been a popular backpacker destination.

Once notorious for tubing tours, which involved floating along the river in old tyre tubes with stops at riverside bars, and hedonistic parties at hostels and bars where revellers knocked back free shots of Lao whiskey, Vang Vieng was transformed into an eco-tourism destination after authorities banned tubing and closed most bars, before reinstating tubing with regulations.

Attracting more Asian tourists these days, most travellers end a day of kayaking, caving, swimming, or trekking with cold beers and street food on the riverside. Although for many backpackers Vang Vieng remains a party town, with some hostels and bars still offering free shots; albeit with a curfew now in place, the parties now end at midnight.

Cheap and Free Drinks Made with Illegal Alcohol Is The Problem

For young travellers on their first backpacking trip, the drinks themselves aren’t usually all that memorable, especially after waking up feeling queasy with a foggy head from a long night partying into the wee hours. What will stand out most amongst those hazy memories are shared experiences between old friends and new friends made from around the world.

For young backpackers drinking and partying is a big part of their first overseas adventure, especially an epic Southeast Asian journey along the ‘banana pancake trail’, which is punctuated with party destinations, from Thailand’s Koh Phangan and its infamous full moon parties to the relatively tamer Pub Street in Siem Reap and Khao San Road in Bangkok.

Cheap drinks are a big appeal for young backpackers on a tight budget: 50c beers at traveller bars in contrast to $5 beers at the craft brew pubs frequented by expats and locals. Hostels offer free shots of booze and cheap bucket drinks with straws to be shared to get the parties started faster.

Travellers often wonder why the drinks are so cheap and how businesses can afford to give them away. The answer is simple: bootleg liquor, which costs next to nothing to make. Usually made with ethanol or ethyl alcohol, illicit booze is also mixed with denatured alcohol, products like paint stripper, and at worst, sometimes inadvertently, with methanol. Read more about methanol and methanol poisoning in this scholarly article on The Conversation.

Alcohol Poisoning and Methanol Poisoning Isn’t Only a Problem in Southeast Asia

Illicit alcohol trade and illness and deaths from spiked drinks, contaminated alcohol, and alcohol contaminated with methanol in particular, isn’t only a problem in Southeast Asia, although Asia countries feature heavily on this list of countries with the highest number of methanol deaths compiled by Doctors Without Borders.

In Australia earlier this year, police in the state of Victoria busted a billion-dollar operation ran by a crime syndicate that was blending toxic industrial alcohols, such as brake fluid, with whisky and vodka to avoid the high spirits excises, which at the time of publication of this story was $101.85 per pure litre of alcohol compared to $10 of denatured alcohol.

While our tips to drinking safely in Southeast Asia focus on the region we’ve lived in and travelled for some 16 years, as Laos and Southeast Asia are in the spotlight now, our advice can apply to many countries where methanol poisoning is a problem. If you’re a traveller planning a backpacking adventure or epic trip on a budget, these tips to drinking safely in Southeast Asia should help you wherever you travel.

Tips to Drinking Safely in Southeast Asia and Beyond

Here’s how to drink safely in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Buy Liquor in Screw-Top Bottles and Cans

If you’re a young traveller on a tight budget keen for a few drinks at your backpacker hostel before you go out, whether it’s to save money or make new friends of fellow travellers, here are our top tips to drinking safely: if you’re drinking at the hostel bar, stick to beer in cans and alcoholic beverages in screw-top bottles. If you’re bringing drinks back, buy liquor from a good supermarket chain or proper liquor store, rather than a dusty corner shop or dingy mini mart.

Decline Free Shots

Assume that, unless you are perched on a stool at a high-end bar in a luxury hotel or boutique hotel or at a chic cocktail bar where the mixologist is offering you a taste a creative new cocktail they’re concocting, those free shots could be made with bootleg alcohol. If you’re at a backpacker hostel bar or a travellers’ bar and they’re giving away free shots for hours on end you can be fairly confident the free shots are made with local moonshine or ‘bathtub gin’.

Avoid Any Drinks in Buckets with Straws

Again, you should assume that those stupidly cheap drinks in buckets with straws that are  intended to be shared are most likely made with stupidly cheap booze. They’d cost a heck of a lot more if made with a good gin or vodka, so keep that in mind. At best, those bucket drinks will see you sharing hangover stories with your new friends; they will probably give you a nasty headache that will see you with your head over a bucket or sending you running for the toilet. At worst, they could send you to the nearest hospital.

Skip the Hostel-Ran Bar Crawls

It can be great fun getting a taste of the local bar scene with a guide, but stick with wine tastings and sipping tours ran by respected tour operators. Give the backpacker bar crawls a miss, many of which often give out free shots en route. (See 1 above.)

Shun the Local Moonshine

I have to confess that I’ve had no hesitation sampling moonshine at local markets and home distilleries in Southeast Asia over the years, including that of an elderly, dapper, French-speaking man with a rudimentary rice wine distillery in a Cambodian village. Having learnt that methanol contamination of traditionally fermented beverages is on the rise globally, I’m going to give homemade spirits a miss from now.

Drink Local Beer with Locals

Do as the locals do and drink the national beer brands (in Laos, Beer Lao is brilliant; we also drink it in Cambodia) or the latest fashionable new spirits product for something different. Asking locals or expats for their recommendations is a great way to start a conversation at the supermarket fridge (it’s a question I always get asked in Siem Reap!). While you’re there you can ask for their tips for bars and pubs.

Drink Commercial Beverage Brands

Sampling local specialties such as sake in Japan or Korean soju can be fun. Soju, pictured above, comes in all kinds of flavours, from lychee to strawberry, and is super-affordable in Southeast Asia at around US$1.50 a bottle. But note that with the alcohol content varying from 12% right up to 45%, soju can be potent and should be slowly sipped.

If you’re keen to try Southeast Asian spirits that you’ve heard of such as sugar cane spirit, rice wine, herbal liquors, and rums and brandies, stick to well-regarded commercial brands, such as SangSom Rum, Mekhong Whiskey or Chalong Bay Rum in Thailand.

If budget allows, it’s worth seeking out local craft beers and smaller boutique spirits brands, which while more expensive than popular brands are generally more refined and more interesting. And I bet they’re more affordable than in your home country. Sampling Sombai rice wine, Seekers Spirits and Samai Rum are a must when you’re in Cambodia.

Stick to Alcohol Brands You Know

It might not be the most adventurous option, but if you’re concerned, the safest option is to stick to drinks brands you drink at home that you’re familiar with, such as mixed spirits or alcopops like Vodka Cruiser, Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer. You’ll find these and similar beverages sold at supermarkets and reputable mini-marts such as 7-Elevens in Southeast Asia. Ciders, such as Somersby, above, by Carlsberg, are great, as they’re low in alcohol.

Drink Where Locals and Expats Drink

Avoid drinking at backpacker hostel bars, rustic illicit bars in the backstreets and villages, as well as traveller bars in backpacker zones in Southeast Asia. Instead, drink at reputable licensed bars, pubs and nightclubs that are frequented by locals and expats. Just because you’re on a tight travel budget, don’t shy away from a fancy-looking cocktail bar. At around US$5 a cocktail in Cambodia, you’ll find the drinks to be far more affordable than they are back home, and safer.

Drink Responsibly

While drinking responsibly is the last piece of advice a young backpacker on their first overseas adventure wants to hear, it’s wise advice: set a drinks limit and stick to it (if you can’t remember how much you’ve had to drink, it’s time to stop); drink slowly (sip, don’t gulp); alternate liquor with water, mocktails and other non-alcoholic drinks; don’t buy rounds; and don’t allow anyone to top up your glass, especially a stranger. More responsible drinking tips on DrinkWise.

Eat Food with Your Drinks

Eat something before heading out so you’re not drinking on an empty stomach. Graze on drinking snacks while at a bar or pub. Plan to eat a proper meal and make a restaurant reservation so you’re more likely to stick to that plan. Eat something on your way back to the hostel: heading to a street food stall or food truck might just turn out to be the most fun part of the night.

Resources on Methanol Poisoning

The Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres website has good methanol poisoning resources, including a good fact sheet and information on methanol poisoning treatment. While the latter is aimed at medical professionals, it’s worth making yourself aware of what treatment should be undertaken.

The Methanol Institute has plenty of information on methanal poisoning, from preventing methanol poisoning from production to protecting consumers from adulterated alcohol, to a guide to how to recognise methanol poisoning and first aid information.

This is a collection of scholarly scientific research articles on methanol poisoning.

If you have any more tips to drinking safely in Southeast Asia, feel free to share them in the Comments section below, and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.