“I saw a kaleidoscopic light before going blind,” says Laos methanol poisoning survivor
Calum Macdonald remembers stepping off an overnight bus at the Vietnamese border and seeing nothing but a blinding kaleidoscopic light.
He couldn’t read the administrative forms in front of him. He told his friends something was wrong with his sight.
The 23-year-old had just left Vang Vieng, Laos, a town famed for its wild nightlife. The day before, he and his friends had stayed at a hostel offering free whisky and vodka shots. Calum had mixed the drinks with soft drinks, assuming all was normal.
“[We agreed] it was strange but we thought it was food poisoning and the light I was seeing was some kind of sensitivity,” he told BBC Breakfast.
‘I remember having this kaleidoscopic blinding light in my eyes’
Calum Macdonald spoke to #BBCBreakfast about a mass methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng in Laos last year, in which six people were killed, and left him blind https://t.co/u2TKqWhmjy pic.twitter.com/1F2mF5X0fU
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) August 18, 2025
By the time they reached Vietnam, the warning signs were undeniable. “We were sitting in the hotel room, my friends and I, and I said to them: ‘Why are we sitting in the dark? Someone should turn a light on.'” The lights were already on.
Calum is now blind. He is among the victims of a mass methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng last November, where six people died. Two of the deceased were Danish girls he had met during a night out.
Calum is now working with families of three British victims who lost their lives to methanol poisoning in South East Asia, urging the Foreign Office to provide clearer warnings about such dangers.
One of those victims, Simone White, drank free shots at the hostel the day after Calum left. She had texted her mother saying it was “the best holiday she’d ever been on.”
She soon fell critically ill. “[He said] you need to give permission for urgent brain surgery or she’s not going to survive… I flew out the next day knowing she was going through surgery and I expected the worst, to be honest.”
The 28-year-old later died in hospital. Sue, Simone’s mother, reflected: “It’s very hard to come to terms with what’s happened. Nothing is going to bring Simone back.”
Methanol: The hidden threat
Methanol is a toxic alcohol found in fuels, cleaning products, and antifreeze. Unlike ethanol, the type used in drinks, it can cause severe poisoning if ingested.
Contamination often occurs during the production of cheap spirits—a recurring problem in South East Asia, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Early symptoms resemble a hangover: dizziness, nausea, headaches, and fatigue. But within 12-48 hours, serious complications can develop, including seizures, blurry vision, coma, and permanent blindness.
Just 30ml of methanol can be fatal. Prompt treatment within 10-30 hours, often via dialysis, can save lives.
Tragedies beyond Laos
Not all methanol poisoning cases occurred in party towns. In Bali, 38-year-old Kirsty McKie died in 2022 after drinking contaminated alcohol at home. Her friend survived. Sonia Taylor said, “We had no idea… that’s probably been the hardest part for me, not knowing why you live and somebody else dies.”
On Sumatra, Cheznye Emmons died after consuming gin containing 66,000 times the legal methanol limit. Her mother Pamela recalled her last words: “‘I’m really, really scared.’ And that was basically the last time [she spoke].”
Advice for travellers
Calum now advises tourists to avoid free drinks and cheap spirits. “There are lots of lovely beers in south-east Asia, which I’m sure people would really enjoy,” he says.
He is adjusting to life with blindness, learning to use a cane and hoping to train with a guide dog. He adds, “[The deaths] made me realise that I was very lucky and I felt very grateful that, although I had some difficult consequences, a lot of people did have it worse.”
The Foreign Office labelled methanol poisoning and counterfeit alcohol as a “serious problem in some parts of the world” and said it was working with local authorities to raise awareness through the Travel Aware campaign.
