CNN  —  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. Vang Vieng , a popular backpacker destination in northern Laos, is at the center of an unfolding tragedy after several Western nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, confirmed their citizens had died in Laos in recent days and warned of the potentially fatal