John Joyce is back in Thailand after a spell in Japan trying to make amends for the reckless adventures of his youth, trying to reconnect with people from his past to set things right, only nothing works out as he wants it to. Along the way he gets caught up in the colorful drama of a political demonstration that alters the course of his life. Soon he finds himself volunteering at an unusual NGO dedicated to empowering the poor, including prostitutes. He continues to teach at a prestigious, buttoned down university by day but his free time is taken up visiting slums and offering his skills as an English teacher to bargirls in trouble. Meanwhile, the government launches a vicious anti-drug campaign that kills with impunity, bringing tragedy to the family of a slum-dwelling friend. A refugee from the brutal political violence, she leaves Bangkok for her home in Sisaket in the Isan countryside. John, who had come to be close with her as a friend and confidant, impulsively quits Bangkok to follow on her trail, thoroughly unprepared for what awaits him when he finds her.