If you follow events in Thailand then you’re probably already aware of the anti-government protests that have taken place in Bangkok. I was able to witness some of the clashes firsthand today from 1-3pm in the area surrounding the Victory Monument. Although by the evening of the same day the situation appears to have calmed, the standoff was tense and occasionally violent, and could potentially have been much worse. To view a slideshow of some of the images (taken with my new Nikon D700!), click on the image above — use keyboard arrows or hold your mouse above the images to navigate through them.

Shooting photos in Dhaka, Bangladesh was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. There are few certifiable ’sights’ in the city, but the hectic atmosphere and abundance of incredibly friendly people combined to make it a virtual game reserve for photographers. To commence a slideshow of 25 random images from the city, click on the image above — use keyboard arrows or hold your mouse above the images to navigate through them.

The first time I was on Ko Yao Noi was in 2007 when I was assisting French photographer Eric Valli for the book project, Thailand: 9 Days in the Kingdom. For his assignment, Eric had chosen to photograph the Muslim islanders who gather swallows’ nests (a Chinese delicacy) in local caves, revisiting a topic he had documented in a film, book and National Geographic article in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During the nine days we worked mostly with the new generation of bird nest gatherers, but Eric did make a point of stopping by to say hello to Sahat, a now elderly gatherer who was the superstar of his previous work. Despite his age, Sahat was still as spry as ever, at one point proving to us that he could still climb by quickly scaling a vine hanging over our boat!

Two years later find myself on Ko Yao Noi again and decided to stop by to see how Sahat was doing. I could only vaguely remember the street he lived on, but somehow found him, amazingly wearing the same Thai schoolboy’s shirt as last time! The image above shows him holding a copy of the National Geographic article that features him, an item he keeps along with Eric’s book in a plastic bag. The pages of both are worn and falling out, the victims of many viewings, and he appears exceedingly proud of having been recognized for his amazing work.

As for me, despite being on a tropical island, I am, if you’ll excuse my Swedish, jävligt upptagen at the moment, but will post some pics from Bangladesh when I get some time.

I’ve spent the last several days traveling and taking photos in Bangladesh. It’s dirty, noisy, crowded and the food isn’t much to speak of. But the people here are by leaps and bounds the friendliest, kindest folks I’ve ever come across anywhere, and in a bizarre way, despite the garbage, pollution and poverty, Bangladesh is probably the most photogenic place I’ve ever been. Will be posting some more images here, including a bit of food-related stuff on the other blog, as soon as possible.

This morning I took a drive along Hwy 1285, an isolated road that twists 15km between mountain valleys to the village of Huay Phueng, not far from the Burmese border. It’s getting warmer in Mae Hong Son, but driving a motorcycle at 7am, in the shadows of the hills, it was so cold I quickly lost the feeling in my hands.

One sign of the approaching hot season, as the image above illustrates, is the changing colours of the leaves. Known locally as bai tong tueng, the huge leaves fall to the side of the road and are gathered and spliced together to be used as roofing. They’re also a serious fire hazard during this time of year, so you’ll also see people sweeping them into large piles to be burnt. Running over them on a motorcycle results in an extremely satisfying crunch.

The most scenic spot along Hwy 1285 is the tiny Shan village of Thung Masaan. The village is located on a slight cliff overlooking a stream and a perfectly flat mountain valley where people grow rice, garlic and soybeans:

At the far end of this field is the village temple:

and if you ask me, this simple house at the edge of the valley has one of the nicest views in Thailand:

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