Kala, the 17-year-old daughter of Max's housekeeper, is now living with Max and his wife Jade since the return of her war-damaged father. Max and Jade live in a mansion, and Kala quickly becomes aware that she is becoming part of an uneasy triangle between Max and his barren and needy wife. Kala is also more than curious about the forbidden Garden behind Max's home. Surely Max couldn't have amassed his fortune with his ice cream business.

Kala soon figures that the Garden is a front for something illegal. And as she gently weaves her way into becoming Jade's replacement and Max's confidant, Kala realizes she is being groomed as Max's business partner. Then she meets Eddie, a renegade CIA operative attempting to penetrate Max's cartel while posing as road manager for touring musicians. While war is being waged in nearby Vietnam, it's Eddie's job to guide English singer Duke DeLuxe around the various US Air Force bases and clubs in Thailand.

Each of them has their own agenda here in the land of smiles. But what will triumph-business, or pleasure?