Two young Melbourne women are on life support in Thailand with suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos.

The 19-year-old women were travelling with a group through Southeast Asia while on a break from their university studies when they began feeling unwell on Friday, Sky News reports.

The pair had been staying at a youth hostel in Vientaine in Laos when they drank cocktails believed to have been spiked with the toxic chemical.

Staff at their hostel were alerted and the women asked to be taken to hospital. Their conditions then began to rapidly decline.

They have since been flown to separate hospitals in Thailand.

Ten other travellers were believed to have also been taken to hospital.

Methanol, a liquid chemical, is often illegally added to alcoholic drinks as a cheaper alternative to ethanol, according to the Methanol Institute.