Mingmonkul Sonakul
Set in 1950 and based on the series of autobiographical short stories by Archin Panjabhan, the beginning finds Archin expelled from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University in his sophomore year. He is packed off to southern Thailand, where he supposedly has a job waiting for him. It's in a remote, mountainous jungle that doesn't even "rate a spot on the map", a place that is little but all-consuming red mud and seemingly endless, torrential downpours. Archin arrives, letter of recommendation in hand, at the mining company office, only to be told that there are no jobs. The company's superintendent, Sam, a stern Australian veteran of the Death Railway who asks Archin if he is willing to do manual labor. Archin answers to the affirmative and he's hired. He's even given a house of his own, (which happens to be haunted).
The film follows the life of Sipang (Nicole Theriault), an urbane and self-confident Bangkok woman whose husband disappears after he receives a mysterious phone call on the night of their wedding. She begins to search for him with the help of his elder brother Chatchai (Pongpat Wachirabunjong) and his introverted wife Busaba (Siriyakone Pukkavesa), a traditional housewife totally dependent on her dominating husband. During the search, Sipang and Busaba, who are worlds apart in outlook, grow increasingly close and explore the value of life, love and devotion as women living in contemporary Thai society.
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.
