Thread: Canadian sisters died in Thailand from drinking DEET

I bet they'd like to have this one back

Though the chemical is a potentially neurotoxic mosquito repellent, it is used as an ingredient in a euphoria-inducing cocktail that is popular among youth in Thailand. The drink contains cough syrup, Coke, DEET and ground up kratom leaves, which are a mild narcotic indigenous to Thailand.

Quebec sisters died in Thailand from drinking DEET
Bodies of Audrey and Noémi Bélanger found on June 15 at hotel on Phi Phi island
CBC News Posted: Aug 31, 2012 10:35 AM ET

The death earlier this year in Thailand of two sisters from Quebec was caused by drinking a cocktail that contained the insect repellent DEET, an autopsy concluded.

Results of the autopsy at a Bangkok hospital have not been publicly released, but they were shown to reporters for CBC's French-language news network.



According to the report, 20-year-old Audrey and Noémi Bélanger, 25, had DEET in their bodies that they had ingested.

Though the chemical is a potentially neurotoxic mosquito repellent, it is used as an ingredient in a euphoria-inducing cocktail that is popular among youth in Thailand. The drink contains cough syrup, Coke, DEET and ground up kratom leaves, which are a mild narcotic indigenous to Thailand.

It is thought that an overdose of DEET was accidentally mixed into the young women's drinks.

They had just arrived on the Thai island of Phi Phi and were last seen partying with two Brazilian friends in the early morning of June 13. Forty-eight hours later, when staff at their hotel hadn't seen them emerge from their room, a receptionist called police.

The sisters were found dead in their room, and it was speculated that poisoning, probably accidental, played a role. Police said they found no signs of foul play.

However, officers did find a lot of vomit in the room and there was blood on the young women's faces, leading investigators to say early on that the women may have suffered some kind of toxic reaction.

Another autopsy is supposed to take place in Montreal, but final results from that are expected to take months. The Bélangers were from Pohénégamook, in Quebec's Lower Saint Lawrence region.
Mysterious deaths

In 2009, two young tourists, one from the United States and the other from Norway, who were staying at a nearby guest house also died under mysterious circumstances.

Their deaths remain unsolved, but there was speculation the women had been poisoned.

Another spate of mysterious tourist deaths occurred last year in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, involving several visitors from different countries staying at the same hotel in January and February.

The cause of death was not established, though some evidence suggested the use of the chemical spray chlorpyrifos, used to kill bedbugs, may have been responsible.

Quebec sisters died in Thailand from drinking DEET - Health - CBC News

---Update---

read some of the chinese whispers that followed on theglobeandmail.com:

Pifco

6:37 PM on August 31, 2012
Even though this little story is from 35 years ago, it involves insecticides in Thailand.

I was staying with the cousin of Thai friend at her small apartment in the heart of hot and humid Bangkok July. She (or rather her housemaid) was minding her neighbour's baby who was sound asleep on a blanket on the floor in a corner of the room. Being prime cockroach season, the housemaid came in to the living area furiously pumping an old-fashioned sprayer loaded and labelled with Baygon™, Bayer Chemicals then internationally popular insecticide. Without so much as a pause she started around the room, heading in the direction of the child. I put a stop to it and sent her, confused, out of the room.

The Thai autopsy concludes ingestion, but I wonder if the use of insecticides in hotel rooms/bungalows has abated in Thailand and other Asian countries were I've encountered it . I was still catching the occasional and familiar whiff when last in Thailand 10 years ago and steering clear.

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onlyatoms

5:27 PM on August 31, 2012
Could they have been experimenting with 'drugs' and been mislead or just made a bad choice?

2 replies

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robertocarlos

6:45 PM on August 31, 2012
The CBC reported that there is a local drink which deliberately contains deet and other ingredients and that the deet dose was too high.

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robertocarlos

6:43 PM on August 31, 2012
It was sad to hear this on CBC news today that the sisters drank poison.

1 reply

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Seppo2

7:06 PM on August 31, 2012
"...Though the chemical is a potentially neurotoxic mosquito repellent, it is used as an ingredient in a euphoria-inducing cocktail that is popular among youth in Thailand. The drink containts cough syrup, Coke, DEET and a leaf extract.

It is thought that an overdose of DEET was accidentally mixed into the young women's drinks..."

Audrey And Noemi Belanger, Quebec Sisters Drank Insecticide DEET: Autopsy

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jules-jim1

5:42 PM on August 31, 2012
is there any "foundation" or else
to help that family ?
No ?

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alphamale

6:58 PM on August 31, 2012
Inflation has hit Thailand hard. It was said not many years ago that a contract killing could be arranged for $20 US. The current rate, according to reports, averages $500 US. It may not be murder of course; nevertheless the risks associated with vacationing in these third world countries can be quit high - especially for those intent on immersing themselves in the culture of vice often found there.

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CheeMiss

6:48 PM on August 31, 2012
What if they thought they bought cocaine, instead it was insecticide???

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Lablanc

5:48 PM on August 31, 2012
Why do people go to third world countries and try out these drugs, when you can do it at home?

I feel sorry for them.




---Update---

Originally Posted by 3leggedkitty

especially for those intent on immersing themselves in the culture of vice often found there.

oh they were drug-crazed sluts then. 'there' is a really big place too.

Originally Posted by alphamale

alphamale
6:58 PM on August 31, 2012
Inflation has hit Thailand hard. It was said not many years ago that a contract killing could be arranged for $20 US. The current rate, according to reports, averages $500 US. It may not be murder of course; nevertheless the risks associated with vacationing in these third world countries can be quit high - especially for those intent on immersing themselves in the culture of vice often found there.

What? The price murder has gone up that much in Thailand?

i know it's criminal innit. the last guy who fucked with me on this forum, i could only afford to have his eyes gouged out and fed to his doggie. ten thousand frickin baht. i tell ya it's bad out there.

Burma. I hear tell you can still get a good throat-slit for real cheap in Burma.

You have to be freaking retarded to drink that kind of crap, well better luck next time oh no i forgot it's too late already

Oops!

Cocktail? Well, not quite. It's the habit of Phi Phi visitors, mostly 20-somethings out for a good time, to drink their cocktails by the bucketful - literally - on Phi Phi when enjoying their fun and making the round from venue to venue.

What goes into the individual person's bucket depends on their taste, as does the size of the bucket. The contents are usually sucked through a straw.


Phi Phi's Killer Cocktail in a Bucket: Time for Health Officials to Explain Death Riddle - Phuket Wan