Chanachol, recently returned to Thailand after living overseas, signs up for a tour to get back in touch with Thai culture, and finds himself attracted to the tour guide, Mekhala. There are several problems with the relationship: Chanachol is married, with family, and Mekhala has a mysterious, symbiotic relationship with a deadly cobra, and many of her previous suitors have ended up dead.
Somsri is a teacher in one of Bangkok's slums, teaching the slum kids as best she can in a beat up old building with no budget for equipment or books etc. At the time the film was made (or is set), 1/5th of Bangkok's population was apparently living in slums. Somsri is also the leader of a slum committee, organized primarily to fight the property development company that is trying to evict the people from their homes. Somsri is idealistic, proud and strong-headed and determined to organize the residents and fight the company every step of the way. Unfortunately, many or most of the residents are reluctant to fight, accepting the idea that as slum people they have no rights and can't possibly win against a big corporation. The fight is a difficult one as the company is not afraid to use nasty tactics against the people that stand in the way of their profits.
