There isn’t a single day Mark and Michelle Jones don’t think back to the last time they spoke with their beloved daughter.

Bianca Jones was on a trip of a lifetime, alongside best friend Holly Morton-Bowles, making memories and backpacking through Laos.

But the trip took a tragic turn, when the pair and several others were fatally poisoned with methanol while drinking on a night out.

Within days, the girls would fail to check out of the popular Nana Backpackers Hostel, be rushed to the hospital, and placed on life support, as their families raced to their bedsides to say their goodbyes.

The grief is still raw for both parents as they mark the first anniversary since their deaths.

The grief over their daughter’s death is still raw for Michelle and Mark Jones.

“We think about her every day. We wake up thinking about her and go to bed thinking about her. She’s on our minds,” Jones said.

“Someone told me there will be a point where you start thinking about it, not cry and start smiling. But I’m not there yet.”

The friends from Beaumaris, in Melbourne’s south-east, have been remembered for their adventurous spirit and infectious energy.

Jones will always recall his daughter’s beautiful smile.

“She had such pizzazz. She would walk in the door and light the place up,” he said.

“We would butt heads on quite a few things. I miss having those good debates and I just miss being able to cuddle my daughter, give her a kiss and tell her I love her.”

At least six foreigners died during the mass poisoning event last November. The others were British woman Simone White and two young Danish women.

The Laotian government vowed to “bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with the law” following the deaths, detaining at least eight people believed to be hotel staff and management.

But little progress has been made since, leaving the families no closer to answers.

“It’s quite frustrating and not having much justice. Incredibly disappointing is not even the right word,” Jones said.

On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said she had talks with the Laos ambassador about the lack of progress in the investigation.

She said efforts “so far has not been good enough”, following more than 50 representations to the Laos government.

It comes as both families this week joined forces to launch an alcohol awareness campaign with DrinkWise ahead of Schoolies.

The campaign will target teens with phone messages as they arrive in Australian airports and show in-flight messages on international Jetstar flights.

Jones hopes the campaign will saves lives.

“We genuinely wished we had known about the dangers before our girls travelled,” he said.

Both families planned to spend this weekend together, outside Melbourne and on the two friends used to enjoy.

“We will go to one of the special places where the girls were us, and spend a lot of time remembering them,” Jones said.

“We’re just grieving together.”

—AAP