 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 a small town in Thailand s Northeast. 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.