I-San Special

The soundtrack to a radio soap opera set in a luxury hotel is acted out by characters who are riding a ramshackle bus from Bangkok to the small town Nong Bua in Thailand's Northeast (Isaan). When the bus stops, the drama in the characters' real lives can be seen. In different cirumstances, it's not hard to imagine the characters - a young small-town girl (glamorous model), an older woman (hi-so boutique owner), an illegal Burmese immigrant (hotel waitress), half-Thai backpacker (handsome hotel owner), soldier (ladyboy hostess) and dodgy businessman (dodgy businessman) - assuming the lives of their larger-than-life soap opera alter egos.