Brings realities of the 50's into the context of current times haunted by nebulous visions of a weird but exciting future. Thailand absorbs all this and takes a lead in the modern world. This is not about the old British Raj, at tea parties with gin and tonic.International travel is now cheap and popular. People want to learn about and experience other regions of the world - especially the young. At some of the world's most notorious border crossings, queues of backpackers from America, Canada, Russia, Israel, Netherlands, and France etc swap stories as they wait for their visas. It is the English language at its most alive and real. They are the new ambassadors of this world! They meet people who are not on the main tourist routes and who in many cases have never even seen a foreigner in the flesh before. They exchange friendship and humour in a heart to heart relationship, offering a cigarette or warm carton of long-life orange juice. Just one example of how the world is changing! It is into this world that the older Englishman ventures, leaving his familiar English home with its TV and media-induced obsessions, for the exotic shores of a tropical paradise. It is also a route for his inevitable confrontation with the 21st Century and its concept of the future.