This looks worrying:
It has been reported that some restaurants in popular tourist destinations offer drug laced food and drink which has led to the victim being assaulted. These products can contain harmful substances and consuming them can result in serious injury or even death. You should never leave food or drink unattended.
I thought Laos was supposed to be ultra relaxed?
Reply to this The FCO site fco.gov.uk
I've heard the story from a few backpackers but you know how Backpacker "Chinese" whispers work...
I originally heard this about Vietnam
Reply to this Well - in Vang Vieng many restaurants openly sell "Happy Pizza, Happy Brownies" - etc etc
The report above - is particularly odd though - if the restaurant is serving seriously contaminated food - leaving it unattended will make no difference.
Sounds like two problems rolled into one by someone with very bad standards of comprehension.
Do you have a direct link to the article?
Reply to this Laos is a great place full of the friendliest people you will ever meet. Go, enjoy yourself, and just take the same precautions as you would when travelling anywhere.
I would also take what you read on the fco with a pinch of salt. It's nice to check with them but they've nearly put me off visiting countries in the past which have turned out to be fantastic, Indonesia for example.
Reply to this "You should never leave food or drink unattended."
I've never heard of this kind of advice before, and I still don't believe it.
In fact Laos is a newfound heaven for drug tourism.
The number of Western tourists being held in jail in Laos is very high compared to Cambodia.
Reply to this #1
I heard a couple of reports of this happening. The victims were men out having fun with Lao women they just befriended (your average respectable Lao woman would never go out with a guy, especially to a bar at night, more especially with a foreign guy she just met!). The women were in on a scam with some local guys, who were successful in relieving the victim of his memory, money and other things. Other crime reports are petty theft, mostly careless tourists who put their bag in their bicycle basket when out cycling around. Use common sense, and don't talk to strangers (you know what I mean) and you will be perfectly safe...
Reply to this Sounds like two problems rolled into one by someone with very bad standards of comprehension.
Well, I bloody well hope misunderstandings like that are not happening. If I was travelling with my daughter, I would be seriously pissed off if somebody drugged me. It is difficult enough to watch a little kid in a foreign country, without trying to do it under the influence of drugs. And, if they drugged her, I would be even more pissed off.....
Reply to this Mell - I think you're misunderstanding my statement.
Read the original quote - leaving drug laced food unattended makes no difference - it already has the drugs in it.
Yes - totally agree - drugging people without their consent is a bad thing.
Reply to this Thanks Ali 😊 Hopefully, the cafe people in Laos will listen carefully to our orders and serve us drug free food, rather than the probably more popular hash cookies, happy pizza, space cakes...........
Reply to this They would never go randomly drugging people. If you go & hang out with shady people you hardly know, which I doubt very few of us on these forums are going to do, you might find yourself in a sticky situation. I am a frequent traeler to Laos an dhave never had any problems there.
Reply to this I am a frequent traeler to Laos an dhave never had any problems there.
Thanks for the reassurance. 😊
But, heavy drug users are not always shady people. Some of them are just regular backpackers who hang out at the same places as the rest of us do. Pity they dont consider more what happens to people who are convicted of drugs offences in most countries in Asia. When I find out somebody is a heavy user of hard drugs, I usually avoid their company while travelling. Not worth risking being around somebody who is unpredictable, because of drug use.
Reply to this It's not the drug users/backpackers that are drugging people, it's the locals who are out to scam sitting ducks.
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