00:00On the main bar strip of Vung Vieng, a more subdued vibe. Bars are still open, drinks
00:08still flowing, but gone are the free shots of spirits that used to lure so many backpackers
00:13in.
00:14So I'm not drinking any alcohol that's out of a spirit bottle. I'm only drinking beer
00:20Lao at the moment, but it's really hard to tell where it's coming from.
00:26Ten days on from the first death, the Government of Laos this weekend finally issued a statement
00:31expressing condolences to the families of the six victims, including 19-year-old Australians
00:37Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, two friends on the trip of a lifetime.
00:41Police have shut the hostel where most of the victims stayed, detained the operators
00:45and also questioned at least one other bar owner, but they are otherwise tight-lipped
00:50on what they've found, despite desperate pleas from the victims' family members.
00:55I would like to take this opportunity to urge the Lao government to investigate this
01:00to the fullest extent to make sure this incident doesn't happen again. We'll forever miss our
01:06beautiful girl and hope her loss of life has not been in vain.
01:15Backpackers still coming to Vung Vieng have become more cautious, with many aware it could
01:19have been them.
01:20We're not doing as much drinking as we would have here before, we're more doing the daytime activities.
01:24Everyone's very cautious.
01:25All the locals are taking it very seriously and I feel like it's affecting everybody equally.
01:29I think it's one concentrated incident I think.
01:32Vung Vieng has been in the headlines before. The town was notorious for a string of alcohol
01:38and drug fuel deaths and drownings more than a decade ago, but nowadays older tourists
01:43from Asia have helped moderate the party town vibe.
01:47Tourist operators here have generally been reticent to go on camera, but they say they
01:52are really rattled by the deaths. They fear if local authorities don't get to the bottom
01:58of this, then the tourists might be reluctant to come back to Laos in future.
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