Nathan, a 50-year-old New Zealander, coordinates Thai fruit exports to China along the Mekong from the port of Chiang Saen, in the Golden Triangle. Orn, who's managed the port logistics for fifteen years, becomes something more than a work colleague.
Alex, a 45-year-old British illustrator, visits Chiang Rai's White Temple on holiday. Bua, a guide and assistant at the associated gallery, notices his sketches. Five years later, Alex exhibits his own work in the city.
Sam, a 39-year-old Canadian coffee buyer, travels to Chiang Rai to negotiate with a cooperative in the Doi Chang mountains. Kaew, the quality-control manager, corrects him on a lot he thought was good. Eight years later they're still cupping coffee together, now as a married couple.
A 52-year-old Canadian, after mistaking lust for love on a trip to Vietnam, goes back to Tinder looking for something real and meets a Thai woman of Chinese descent 24 years younger than him. Three weeks together across Bangkok, Pattaya and Koh Samui become the start of a long-distance relationship that, bumps and all, is still going strong toward a proposal.
A 62-year-old retired American recounts how he met Dada at a Pattaya massage shop, married her in a Buddhist ceremony in Isan, and everything fell apart when she started quietly withdrawing money from the joint account he'd opened for the dowry.
A retired teacher thought he was building a future with Lek. Eighteen months and six hundred thousand baht later, he learned who he was really funding.