Gentle giant Barney Emerald is drugged and robbed while on holiday in Pattaya. He befriends two Thai sisters, one who can speak English, another who is a muay-thai kick-boxing champion, and stays with them until he can recover his passport. After eating some spicy "somtum" at their mother's restaurant, he accidentally demolishes the place. He vows to find a way to earn the money to rebuild the restaurant.

On his deathbed, Uncle Boonmee, recalls his many past lives.

In 1431, the Kingdom of Ayutthayan conquers the territory of Sukhothai expanding their lands to the East. The noble Lord Siha Decho is betrayed by his Captain, Rajasena, and is murdered together with his wife. However their son Tien is saved by one loyal soldier and left alone in the woods...

A young woman leaves her job and lover in Japan to start a new life in Thailand.

In Bangkok, in a low-budget hotel called "Heaven", the fate of four guests are interconnected due to a theft in a room: Sean, a paranoid English drug dealer, that is dealing with a powerful local drug lord; the also British psychologist Rosa, who is grieving the loss of her son and making a research with poor children in Thailand; a seriously wounded killer, hired to kill the mobster; and Wit, a thirteen years old abused bellboy, that steals the guests. In the end, we see that it is almost impossible to control life, and sometimes, a subtle incident may lead to fatality.