Cold-blooded Thai bargirls, naïve tourists and sordid scams – it was all in a night's work for Pattaya bar manager Simon Los.

Pouring their hearts out at the bar are a tourist who reclaims his masculinity with the help of a ladyboy, a retired financier who invests thousands in a business with a woman he meets on the streets of Pattaya, a desperate Irishman who breaks the law in his pursuit of love, a high-net-worth visitor who is traded between bargirls, and many others whose heart strings are pulled to the point of breaking.

For years, British expat Simon Los worked the bars of Pattaya. Befriending Thai staff as well as western and local customers, he was privy to the dating despair – and occasional joy – of countless couples. That bargirls would go to such lengths to deceive their farang boyfriends, out of poverty or greed, was not unexpected, but Simon was also surprised to see some of his customers find true love in the Land of Smiles.