Photojournalist Alexander Widding

Merapi vulcano eruption aftermath - Indonesia 2010

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

Phuket vegetarian festival - Thailand 2011

Every year during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival kicks off. The religious festival in Phuket, Thailand, lasts for 10 days, during which sacred rituals take place in the many Chinese shrines and temples. Walking on fire and climbing ladders with bladed rungs barefoot are two of several rituals believed to bring good fortune. The main purpose of the festival, however, is spiritual cleansing and merit-making.

Participants of the festival adhere to a strict vegetarian diet for at least three days. This is one of the 10 main rules meant to ensure good hygiene and inner peace. Sex, alcohol, and meat are strictly forbidden. As cleanliness is considered to be of paramount importance, menstruating and pregnant women are not supposed to attend any of the rituals. The festival rules also call for impeccable mental and physical behavior as well as white clothing.

A chosen few among the participants, called warriors, will pierce themselves with objects such as nails, swords, and knives. The piercing takes place in a shrine and is followed by the most spectacular part of the festival, the street processions: just like in a parade they file along the streets of Phuket, with groups of one or several pierced warriors leading a number of people behind them. Onlookers throw fireworks at them as they pass; these are intended to be as loud as possible as the common belief is that this will banish evil spirits. The warriors walk and dance in a trance-like state, unshaken by the noise.

The origins of the festival date back to 1825, when a traveling Chinese opera company came to Phuket to perform for the miners there. An epidemic broke out and as the members of the company fell sick, they adhered to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the Emperor Gods, Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. When they became well again shortly thereafter, the people of Phuket followed the company’s example - and have celebrated the festival ever since to bring good luck to their communities.

A boy relaxes and watches the rain from a house in the slum during the rainy season.   On the banks of a polluted river, in poorly-built houses, live more than a hundred people from the Lahu tribe. They live in a slum in Chiang Mai, Thailand, away from the Lahu people’s original way of life. Usually, the Lahu people get their resources from the forest. The slum has been there for decades.  The children grow up in conditions that are very hard on them both mentally and physically. Many of the children have to sell flowers and are punished if they don't sell enough. They wander around for many hours during the day and night, trying to sell flowers in the roads, markets, restaurants, and bars of Chiang Mai.

A woman inside her home in the aftermath of flooding - Cagayan De Oro, Philippines 2011

Flood aftermath - Cagayan De Oro, Philippines 2011

Redshirt protest - Bangkok, Thailand 2011

Terrorist Anders Behring Breivik during trial - Oslo, Norway 2012

Lawyer Geir Lippestad during the trial against terrorist Anders Behring Breivik - Oslo, Norway 2012

Terrorist Anders Behring Breivik during trial - Oslo, Norway 2012

22 July trial - Oslo, Norway 2012

Terrorist Anders Behring Breivik handcuffed during trial - Oslo, Norway 2012

Protest against the ongoing violence in Gaza - Oslo, Norway 2012

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg - Oslo, Norway 2013

Protest outside the US embassy - Oslo, Norway 2012

Praying and protesting outside the US embassy - Oslo, Norway 2012

Thai soldier - Surin province Thailand, Cambodian border 2011

Cambodian soldier - Ta Krabey temple, Cambodian border 2011

Thai soldier - Surin province Thailand, Cambodian border 2011

Thai soldier holds a captured bird - Surin province Thailand, Cambodian border 2011

On May 14, 2010 during the political disturbance between Red Shirts and army personnel in Bangkok, Thailand, Kim was shot three times while walking to a 7-Eleven to pay his family’s bills. He was rushed to Kluay Nam Thai Hospital for life-saving surgery. The most dangerous bullet entered close to his spinal cord and penetrated his lung; it was removed during surgery, but the damage it caused resulted in breathing problems, paralysis, and other severe health issues. The second bullet had not penetrated very deeply and was easier to remove. However, due to the large amount of blood Kim had lost, the doctor considered further surgery too risky: the third bullet had to remain in his body.

Before Kim was shot he had taken care of his wife and children, cleaned the apartment and cooked; he worked as a food vendor to pay for food, rent and utilities, and for the kids’ schooling. The shots left him paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him to remain in bed all day while his wife, Aor, had to do all the things he had done before. But in addition to performing all chores single-handedly, she became her husband’s caregiver. Kim needed assistance with everything. Aor cooked for him, washed him, and helped him when he needed to relieve himself. The family now had no income; both Kim and Aor had to stay at home, and the children were in school. They received some financial support from the government, from organizations, volunteers, and from friends and family. They were dependent on the support in order to survive.

On October 20, 2011, more than 17 months after the shooting, Kim needed surgery again. At this point he frequently had cramps in his body, along with severe pain in the shoulder and neck area. As the muscles in his back had atrophied drastically, he could not move his body like before. The doctor discovered that the cause of the pain was one of his neck vertebrae putting pressure on nearby nerves. After surgery Kim returned home, but it was not long before he developed respiratory problems and was taken to the hospital yet again. On November 9, 2011 he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit because of his breathing difficulties. At this point Kim could neither move nor talk; he had nothing to communicate with but his eyes and a mouth with no words.

Kim never woke up again after falling asleep on February 21, 2012. He passed away at Mahesak Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 23 at the age of 55. He leaves behind his wife and three children. The cause of death was a combination of physical weakness and a pulmonary infection. Kim is one of the many innocent casualties of the violence, and as many of the other victims, he never saw justice for what happened.

No one has been held accountable for the shooting of Kim.

On May 14, 2010 during the political disturbance between Red Shirts and army personnel in Bangkok, Thailand, Kim was shot three times while walking to a 7-Eleven to pay his family’s bills. He was rushed to Kluay Nam Thai Hospital for life-saving surgery. The most dangerous bullet entered close to his spinal cord and penetrated his lung; it was removed during surgery, but the damage it caused resulted in breathing problems, paralysis, and other severe health issues. The second bullet had not penetrated very deeply and was easier to remove. However, due to the large amount of blood Kim had lost, the doctor considered further surgery too risky: the third bullet had to remain in his body.

Before Kim was shot he had taken care of his wife and children, cleaned the apartment and cooked; he worked as a food vendor to pay for food, rent and utilities, and for the kids’ schooling. The shots left him paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him to remain in bed all day while his wife, Aor, had to do all the things he had done before. But in addition to performing all chores single-handedly, she became her husband’s caregiver. Kim needed assistance with everything. Aor cooked for him, washed him, and helped him when he needed to relieve himself. The family now had no income; both Kim and Aor had to stay at home, and the children were in school. They received some financial support from the government, from organizations, volunteers, and from friends and family. They were dependent on the support in order to survive.

On October 20, 2011, more than 17 months after the shooting, Kim needed surgery again. At this point he frequently had cramps in his body, along with severe pain in the shoulder and neck area. As the muscles in his back had atrophied drastically, he could not move his body like before. The doctor discovered that the cause of the pain was one of his neck vertebrae putting pressure on nearby nerves. After surgery Kim returned home, but it was not long before he developed respiratory problems and was taken to the hospital yet again. On November 9, 2011 he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit because of his breathing difficulties. At this point Kim could neither move nor talk; he had nothing to communicate with but his eyes and a mouth with no words.

Kim never woke up again after falling asleep on February 21, 2012. He passed away at Mahesak Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 23 at the age of 55. He leaves behind his wife and three children. The cause of death was a combination of physical weakness and a pulmonary infection. Kim is one of the many innocent casualties of the violence, and as many of the other victims, he never saw justice for what happened.

No one has been held accountable for the shooting of Kim.

On May 14, 2010 during the political disturbance between Red Shirts and army personnel in Bangkok, Thailand, Kim was shot three times while walking to a 7-Eleven to pay his family’s bills. He was rushed to Kluay Nam Thai Hospital for life-saving surgery. The most dangerous bullet entered close to his spinal cord and penetrated his lung; it was removed during surgery, but the damage it caused resulted in breathing problems, paralysis, and other severe health issues. The second bullet had not penetrated very deeply and was easier to remove. However, due to the large amount of blood Kim had lost, the doctor considered further surgery too risky: the third bullet had to remain in his body.

Before Kim was shot he had taken care of his wife and children, cleaned the apartment and cooked; he worked as a food vendor to pay for food, rent and utilities, and for the kids’ schooling. The shots left him paralyzed from the waist down, forcing him to remain in bed all day while his wife, Aor, had to do all the things he had done before. But in addition to performing all chores single-handedly, she became her husband’s caregiver. Kim needed assistance with everything. Aor cooked for him, washed him, and helped him when he needed to relieve himself. The family now had no income; both Kim and Aor had to stay at home, and the children were in school. They received some financial support from the government, from organizations, volunteers, and from friends and family. They were dependent on the support in order to survive.

On October 20, 2011, more than 17 months after the shooting, Kim needed surgery again. At this point he frequently had cramps in his body, along with severe pain in the shoulder and neck area. As the muscles in his back had atrophied drastically, he could not move his body like before. The doctor discovered that the cause of the pain was one of his neck vertebrae putting pressure on nearby nerves. After surgery Kim returned home, but it was not long before he developed respiratory problems and was taken to the hospital yet again. On November 9, 2011 he was placed on a ventilator in the intensive care unit because of his breathing difficulties. At this point Kim could neither move nor talk; he had nothing to communicate with but his eyes and a mouth with no words.

Kim never woke up again after falling asleep on February 21, 2012. He passed away at Mahesak Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 23 at the age of 55. He leaves behind his wife and three children. The cause of death was a combination of physical weakness and a pulmonary infection. Kim is one of the many innocent casualties of the violence, and as many of the other victims, he never saw justice for what happened.

No one has been held accountable for the shooting of Kim.