Paradise in Limbo is a semi-fictionalized account of what happens when West meets East and the often bizarre experiences which ensue. It relates tales of bluff and double bluff, deception and intrigue perpetrated by both the protagonists and antagonists. Unlike many of the tomes of a similar genre, it is relatively balanced in that it relates the interactive experiences of both farang (the Thai catchall for all Westerners) males and Thai females. This is possible because the author has penetrated the secret world of the Thai female. The book highlights the follies of those naïve farang men who, as the phrase has it, leave their brains at Suvarnabhumi Airport (an almost universal initial experience), but occasionally tells of those who have turned the tables on the Thais and played them at their own games. It also shows in stark relief the miasmic, dreamlike characteristics of these close encounters and serves to illustrate the truism that, for many, Thailand, in general, and Pattaya, in particular, is the place of shattered dreams. Though frequently larger than life, the tales are grounded in reality and stand the test of both truth and time. More than anything else, it is an essential handbook for the first-time male traveller to Thailand, which, if inwardly digested, will save the ‘lambs’ from being sheared and from experiencing untold heartaches.