I was wondering the same thing. Distance alone does not mean that the volcano, which may be headed toward a devastating eruption judging by the gathering lava dome, will have no effect on relatively nearby travel. Let's recall that the earthquake off Sumatra wrought tragedy thousands of miles away. Krakatoa, at the opposite end of Java in the Sunda Strait, hurled disaster into the air and rained it down on communities far away without the mega-tsunami.

The distance between the volcano and Bali, plus the inland location of Mount Merapi, made me think it probably won't have much effect. But it still might in one particular way: flight patterns. The volcano in Alaska four months ago disrupted lots of trans-pacific air traffic, and Mt. St. Helens damaged an awful lot of aircraft before airlines started flying around it. So, any word on whether the volcano is forcing airlines fly wide of the area on the popular routes between, say, Singapore and Bali? Or is the specific kind of eruption unlikely to produce such results-- a primarily lava-based affair rather than ash spit into the atmosphere?

Out of curiosity (I'm heading to Bali in two weeks, but that's the only place in Indonesia I'm going), how close is Mount Merapi to Yogyakarta? Is travel to that location being disrupted? I believe Jakarta is upwind and thus not affected; is that right?