PHUKET: Australian authorities are likely to intensify travel warnings after an Australian man and his Dutch girlfriend were found dead in a hotel in Laos.

Although Australian tourist numbers to Laos are small compared to Phuket and Bali, it's the third Australian death in the past month.

Australia's ABC reports that the man, aged 22, and his girlfriend were found dead in a small town 200 kilometres from Luang Prabang, in northern Laos. The cause of death has yet to be made public.

A travel columnist in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper today sang the praises of South East Asia as an antidote to the ''nanny state'' thinking of Australia and other Western countries.

''We love talking about our freedom over here - heck, we go to war in its name - but when real freedom presents itself, it's suddenly way too scary,'' writes The Backpacker Ben Groundwater.

''The truth is, you can do some fun things in South-East Asia that you can't do at home. You can also do some dangerous things that maybe aren't so advisable.''

His column, headlined 'Dangerous? Yes, but don't try to change South-East Asia' was published today before the two latest deaths but in the wake of the deaths in Laos of one young man in a ''tubing'' disaster and another in a flying fox crash.

Embassies and honorary consuls are at pains to make the point that far more caution is required in overseas countries.

The Backpacker may face accusations of encouraging young and inexperienced people to take life-threatening risks.