A travel insurer has warned tourists about the risk of being poisoned by locally made alcohol in Bali.
Travel Insurance Direct Online travel insurer says the local drink arak is a real danger and has advised Australians not to drink it.
Arak is a Balinese moonshine traditionally distilled in the island's east and used in religious ceremonies.
The "tourist invasion of Bali", however, has opened up the market for backyard distillers, said the insurer.
His comments follow the Network Seven documentary What Really Happens In Bali, which aired on Tuesday night and highlighted the dangers of drinking locally made spirits.
Travel Insurance Direct's Phil Sylvester says people can be attracted to arak because it can give them a cheap night out with plenty of bang for their buck.
"Producing the spirit is cheap, especially when backyard cowboys with no experience are doing it rather than practised, seasoned old Balinese men," Sylvester said in a statement on Wednesday.
"And a bar owner concerned only about profit will lace the drinks with the cheaper stuff," he added.
But if arak is poorly made it can be laced with methanol, which can send people blind and lead to death.
The signs of methanol poisoning are difficulty breathing, blurred vision, agitation, dizziness and stomach pain.
RECENT INCIDENTS INVOLVING AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND TOURISTS IN BALI
* Tess Mettam, from Perth, became ill and went blind for two days after drinking two cocktails at a Kuta Bar last December.
* Perth teenager Liam Davies, 19, died after drinking a methanol-laced cocktail on the Island of Lombok on New Year's Day, 2013.
* Two 18-year-old Australians, a male and a female, were blinded after drinking cocktails during separate schoolies trips to Bali in November and December 2012
* New Zealand-born Michael Denton, 29, died in Bali in 2011 after drinking arak while on a rugby tour with his Perth-based club
