Drink spiked ???????

[dtaai-maai]

Kendo, please never try to cheer me up !!!

[Jimbob]

Here is a report of a very serious spiking in Bali, no doubt here.


Nurse suffers brain damage after drinking deadly holiday cocktail
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nurse-suffers ... z1adzfKjyH

Tourists are being warned to seek urgent medical treatment if they feel ill after a night out in Bali.

A 25-YEAR-OLD nurse has suffered brain damage and kidney failure after she unknowingly drank a cocktail laced with methanol on the final night of her Indonesian island holiday.

Jamie Johnston has spent the past three weeks in intensive care units in Bali and Darwin hospitals after ordering a jug of arak - a rice wine popular throughout south-east Asia - mixed with fruit juice to share with her mother at the Happy Cafe restaurant in Lombok.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nurse-suffers ... z1adzSOWd9

Arak is traditionally made from fermented rice, palm sap and other base ingredients and its strong alcohol content makes it popular with tourists.

A batch contaminated with methanol - a toxic chemical compound often used as an anti-freeze or in paint - and sold in Bali in 2009 killed 25 people, including a British national, an Irish woman, a Dutch man and an American woman. Travel advice issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs for Indonesia contains a warning that foreigners have died after ''consuming brand name alcohol or local spirits adulterated with harmful substances''.

Ms Johnston's mother, Lyn, told The Sydney Morning Herald test results had shown her daughter suffered methanol toxicity from the drink on September 20 at a restaurant highly recommended to them by locals. After being taken off the plane in Bali in unbearable pain, the 25-year-old from Newcastle became unconscious and has suffered brain scarring and renal failure and has been left unable to move or talk properly since.

Doctors still cannot tell her family what the long term effects will be. Mrs Johnston said her daughter's chances of making a full recovery changes very much ''day-to-day''.

''We were on our way home when she collapsed. It was a dreadful end,'' Mrs Johnston told the Herald. ''It has all been unbelievably traumatic and horrible. People need to be warned about this. Potentially she could have been killed. We could have both been killed.''

Mrs Johnston said doctors in Darwin had told her only a small amount of methanol can be lethal and she might have only been spared poisoning because her daughter drank the first glass.

Not covered by travel insurance, Mrs Johnston paid more than $45,000 to have her daughter flown from Bali to Darwin to receive treatment in Australia.

The NSW Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, is working to have her airlifted from Darwin to Newcastle to continue her treatment at John Hunter Hospital, where she works as a nurse. It is hoped that will happen by the end of the week.

"Australians love Bali - especially at this time of year - so this is a tragedy which could befall any one if us. It is horrific to think that simply by enjoying a few cocktails on a family holiday this young nurse is now facing a very grim future,'' Mrs Skinner said. ''If you are visiting Bali, I urge you to take out medical insurance and seek help immediately from any one of the medical centres on Bali or Lombok if you start to feel ill.''



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nurse-suffers ... z1adzLE2Mi

[STEVE G]

Yes, I think that is a bit of a different thing with people trying to sell cheap drinks made with industrial alcohol to increase profit.
I used to visit Bali and Lombok quite a lot and it was normal for many bars to offer these large cocktails which were ridiculously cheap and strong and I used to wonder what they were made from as they tasted pretty nasty.
In Indonesia you could get these cheap bottles of various spirits from supermakets that were labelled Whisky, Gin, Rum, Vodka or whatever which all tasted like anti-freeze anyway.

[Super Joe]

The most notable symptoms was complete memory loss for about 5 hours , lack of stability, falling over and uncontrolable laughter.

Well popped in there last night, had a couple of beers, waited... and waited... and nothing. Not a thing. No laughter, no wobbliness and I can remember every minute of it. Not even a round of precursory *Bingo* butterflies and shivery yawns. Was gonna ask for a discount when we got the bill but guess there's no guarantess with this kind of thing. We were in a bar about 3 doors down maybe an hour later and had a bit of laugh over something for 30 seconds or so, but can't see it was connected at all!?

Promises, promises

SJ

[Shane]

I've never been to Hua Hin, but after all the positive responses to the OP I'll be looking in on Romantic Bar on my forthcoming trip. :]

[STEVE G]

The most notable symptoms was complete memory loss for about 5 hours , lack of stability, falling over and uncontrolable laughter.

Well popped in there last night, had a couple of beers, waited... and waited... and nothing. Not a thing. No laughter, no wobbliness and I can remember every minute of it. Not even a round of precursory *Bingo* butterflies and shivery yawns. Was gonna ask for a discount when we got the bill but guess there's no guarantess with this kind of thing. We were in a bar about 3 doors down maybe an hour later and had a bit of laugh over something for 30 seconds or so, but can't see it was connected at all!?

Promises, promises

SJ

Yes, it's never happened to me either but perhaps it's only done to people who go home early and look like they need a bit of a helping hand with getting exuberant.

[richard]

Binta bars don't really kick in till 10 pm (if that) at this time of the year

[uncle tom]

Dear, dear..

I've had some very dodgy experiences in the Romantic, sometimes when I've had no more than twenty beers..

Uncontrollable laughter - yep

Falling over - yep

Bells ringing - yep

Dancing on the bar - yep

Getting covered in cream cake - yep

Bursting balloons with my teeth - yep

5,000 firecrackers going off all of a sudden - yep*

..it is, of course, the best bar in town!

Tom

[Super Joe]

Tom, what hit that poor girl on the head at 0:21secs? Looked like a ghost-firework

SJ

[usual suspect]

Cheers Kendo-lad..hope to see you when I get back mid-Nov.. :-)

[fwstallion]

Glad to see the owners' reply to assure future customers.

[usual suspect]

UNCLE TOM...do I detect ALL of the above activities/events were brought-on/encouraged by your good self..
...??? Cheers now..try behave now (for once)..555.

[kendo]

Yep I had better pop in and buy Ricky Raview a couple of whiskeys for my cheek and the noble Yorkshireman never even had the slightest bite.

Kendo

[Spitfire]

Getting drinks spiked probably comes from the following...

1 - Appearing rich, whether you are or not

2 - Appearing stupid

3 - Appearing naive

4 - Talking to women that have katoey friends

5 - Mouthing off about how rich and wonderful you are

6 - Not noticing the bird you are talking to has scooter boy friends around that she talks to intermittently

7 - Not being on the ball and getting too drunk in bar environment

8 - Not realising that if it appears like bullshit then it probably is

9 - Trusting people you meet on a night out too much

10 - Not realising/remembering that drugged drinks often don't initially taste as they should do...put it down and move on

11 - Being too trusting of people

Anyone want more indicators/pointers, sure I could come up with some more?.....But reckon I'm drifting into rhetorical territory here now.

[uncle tom]

Spitfire,

12) Having a drink with a bar girl in your room that she has a chance to tamper with.

Ultimately, no-one is going to spike your drink unless it gives them the chance to rob you, and in HH, that's only going to work in a hotel room.

In Bangers or Pattaya a freelancer could give you a mickey finn in a bar, pretend to help you as she goes through your pockets, and then vanish into the night - not so easy in HH..

I can only think of one case where someone was probably doped in HH, and that was in his room after picking up two girls from what we all know is the dodgiest bar in town (in Poonsuk road) By the time he came to, they had already tried to use his credit cards in Bangkok..

Personally, I only go out at night with as much money as I think I need, and leave everything else locked away. If I get a bit carried away in the Romantic - which has been known... - they are very good about letting me settle up the next day!