North Korean Waitresses entertain customers at the Pyongyang Restaurant in Jakarta

North Korea, starved of foreign currency by sanctions has long been thought to run a shadowy empire of legitimate and not so legitimate businesses through a mysterious agency, Bureau 39.  On the legitimate side of things, an increasing number of restaurants run by North Korean embassies are popping up in Southeast Asia which earn hard currency for the government.  The food, if you are wondering, is quite nice and very similar to other Korean food you may have had.  The waitresses are very pleasant and seem to be professionally trained singers.  They live in rooms above the restaurant.

Stopped into a new, for me, club the other day – Masberto which serves up noise, sweat, and intensity seven days a week – proving once again that Indonesia is where the punk scene is still relevant.  If you like punk music or just punks – check it out.  I haven’t really done justice to it here so please do check out the excellent piece by my friends Maria Bakkalopulo, an ethno-musicologist(which must be one of the coolest job titles in the world), and Ayumi Nakanishi, a great photographer who have been studying Punks here in depth.

An Indonesian man uses a computer at a public internet shop

The BBC has done an excellent special report on what it means to be without internet.  A category which includes much of the developing world.  In Indonesia, public internet shops like the one above provide access to the world online for those that cannot afford computers, but Indonesian’s are increasingly getting online using only mobile phones. You can see the BBC report here.

Evening in Jakarta – a man operating a mobile kids’ ride heads home after a day of entertaining children.

Thai soldiers shield themselves after a series of grenade explosions in a central Bangkok district

The Thai Military are another major player in Thailand’s ongoing political conflict.  The Thai military overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, sparking 4 years of almost constant turmoil.  Civilian rule was restored in 2007, and the military has mostly stayed on the sidelines trying to restore order without overtly taking sides.  Please click here for more images

Thai people calling themselves the "No Color" people, but largely pro-government, and pro-Monarchy demonstrate against the "Red Shirt" takeover of a glamourous shopping district in central Bangkok

The Thai middle class and cultural and business elite are another group that has taken center stage in the ongoing political conflict in Thailand.  They support the current government and are largely pro-monarchy and fiercely opposed to Thaksin and his political allies.  Please click here for more images.

Thai "Red Shirts" shout at pro-government demonstrators opposite their encampment in a glitzy shopping district in central Bangkok

Thailand’s 4 year political upheaval seems like it never really ends – just carries on with different players taking the lead for a time.  At the moment the leading player is a group of largely rural Thais who form the “Red Shirts” who are demanding that the current government step down to allow for new elections.  The “Red Shirts”  are the largest voting block in Thailand and have been closely allied with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was deposed by a military coup in 2006 and is currently in exile facing corruption charges. please click here for more pictures

Abandoned home for Dutch nurses during Indonesia's colonial period

The tropical environment so quickly reasserts itself over man made structure.  Here are a couple images from an ongoing series exploring that theme

“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust” – Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I stayed on a beach nearby with a couple of friends and watched and listened (the explosions are really loud) to the remnents of the Kraktoa volcano erupt all night.  It is just amazing to watch the earth remake itself out in the middle of the Sunda Strait.  I’d recommend the experience to anyone.  More pictures here

Indonesian soldiers patrol a business district where two hotels were bombed 17/07/2009

Terrorist bombs ended an all too brief 4 year period of peace and calm in Indonesia last week.  As I heard the news and rushed over, I felt a real heaviness in the pit of my stomach.  I thought that Indonesia’s intense and often successful campaign against terror groups had put an end to the yellow tape, mangled bodies and grief-stricken relatives; and the feeling of dread whenever a bus tire explodes.  Its a sharp reminder that as long as even one motivated and twisted person remains at large, these things are possible.  Please click here for more images.