Once notorious as a debauched riverside party town, Vang Vieng had cleaned up its act in recent years, but is now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons once again.

The deaths of six foreign tourists linked to a suspected mass methanol poisoning has thrown a spotlight on a small town in Southeast Asia that has worked hard in recent years to shed its reputation for excess.

Officials arrested eight hostel workers in Laos on Monday for allegedly poisoning travelers with methanol, according to reports from the Australian Broadcasting Corp.  Tourists reported illnesses

Southeast Asia has the "highest rates of methanol poisoning globally", said Al Jazeera, and this is often blamed on "economic pressures and weak regulations". Laos, despite its increasing popularity with backpackers, is one of the poorest nations in the region.

Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, was one of a number of people taken to hospital after the incident in the popular backpacking town of Vang Vieng last week

Eight staff members at Laos hostel arrested over 'tainted shot' tourist deaths - All six victims were staying at the NANA Backpackers Hostel in Vang Vieng - a popular tourist spot

A little town known as a backpacker paradise in northern Laos has come under spotlight for a mass poisoning case that has killed at least six tourists and potentially injured scores of others

The U.S., Australia and U.K. have issued warnings for travelers in Vang Vieng after several tourists died in a suspected methanol poisoning outbreak.

Simone White was enjoying a holiday with friends in Laos last week when she accepted a free shot from a bar. The 28-year-old British lawyer is one of six people to have died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in the backpacking town of Vang Vieng.