It seems pretty clear these days that governments around the world often exploit the poor by uprooting them from their homes to build flashy high-rise buildings or even temples, all in the name of “progress” and they do not even consider the situation of the helpless people they displace or show any real concern for their well-being. In the movie Bangkok Breaking: Heaven and Hell, directed by Kome Kongkiat Komesiri, this exact situation takes place, in a small housing village in Thailand, the government signs a deal with a construction company called Idea Tech, led by CEO Mr. Wichai to build a world-class community complex, but to do that, they plan to kick out the people who’ve been living there for ages. Obviously, this created a lot of chaos among the locals, and the villagers started to protest. They had a feud with the police sent by the government, and this chaos went on for eight months, and it did not get resolved, only escalated. To show who the real boss is, one of the protestor gangs hires a criminal named Saisin to kidnap Mr. Wichai’s daughter. But it’s not that simple, because Saisin faces challenges from other criminal gangs in the area. At the same time, an ex-ambulance driver named Wanchai Praisoong and a nurse named Meiji also got involved to rescue the girl. Now, you might wonder how Wanchai and Meiji get tangled up in all of this. Well, that’s what we will talk about in Heaven and Hell’s explainer, where we will also get to know if Mr. Wichai’s daughter made it out safely.
Spoilers AheadÂ
Why did Wanchai lose his job?
As I mentioned before, the protests escalated quickly, and the police were sent in to stop the protesters. Naturally, things got out of hand, and gang wars broke out, which made the situation even worse. The police ended up shooting not only protesters but also innocent people, including women and children, and it created even more chaos. So, to help calm things down, rescue workers from the Ruamphalangjai Foundation stepped in and one of them was Wanchai Praisoong, who was an advanced ambulance worker and paramedic. During the chaos, Wanchai saw a teenage protester get shot right in front of him. He could’ve saved himself and run away, especially since some angry protestors thought the rescue workers were with the police and wanted to attack them. But Wanchai couldn’t just turn his back and leave, so he took a big risk and went to help the wounded protester. When Wanchai’s friend and colleague Pond saw this, he also rushed in to help. But the problem was that a police car nearby exploded when one of the protetsors threw a bomb at it, and and it severely burned Pond’s entire body. While the protester Wanchai saved was in stable condition, Pond’s injuries were critical, and doctors said his recovery would be slow. But as he was poor and had a boy and wife to look after, you can imagine his situation, as he could not work anymore. Naturally, Wanchai felt responsible for what happened to his friend. Therefore, even though his senior told him to lie about the situation, Wanchai took full responsibility and admitted that his actions put both himself and Pond in danger. As a result, the president of the Ruamphalangjai Foundation, Aunt Malee, fired Wanchai from his job. And that’s why, from being a paramedic, Wanchai was forced to become a food delivery driver just to get by and support Pond’s family.
How did Saisin, Wanchai, and Meiji’s paths cross?
Remember the teenage protester Wanchai saved? Turns out, he was actually a gang leader who was the same one behind the plan to kidnap Mr. Wichai’s daughter. He wanted revenge, as he saw Mr. Wichai trying to take over their turf. So, for the kidnapping job, he hired a notorious criminal, Saisin, and his nephew (who was actually his son) Bank, to abduct Mr. Wichai’s sick daughter from the hospital parking lot, because they knew that the girl had a heart condition and would be at the Imperial International Hospital for a checkup. This is where Meiji comes in. She used to be a model but, due to her debts, she now worked as a nurse at the same hospital. While on duty, she ordered a tea, and guess who delivered it? Wanchai! They crossed paths in the parking lot and, coincidentally, this is where Saisin, Bank, and another gang member, Chop, were waiting to kidnap the girl. When a shootout suddenly broke out while kidnapping the girl, both Meiji and Wanchai were caught in the middle, terrified and unsure of what to do. Meiji could only scream in panic. But Saisin did not want to leave any witnesses behind, so he took Wanchai and Meiji along with him in the ambulance after kidnapping Mr. Wichai’s daughter.
Even though they knew Saisin was dangerous, Wanchai, being a paramedic, couldn’t turn a blind eye when Saisin was shot in the stomach, and with Meiji’s help, they both saved his life. Things got even crazier when they reached the community as the villagers, gang members, and police (sent to protect Mr. Wichai’s daughter) were all after them. The villagers were even more furious seeing Wanchai, as they had seen him before in their area and thought he was a police informant, so they were after him. But in this chaos, the little girl managed to escape from them. Even though Bank went after her, finding her in that huge village filled with gangs involved in drugs, organ trading, and human trafficking was no easy task. So when Saisin realized how risky it was, he decided to take Wanchai and Meiji’s help to find the girl and offered them 300,000 baht each as he knew their poor circumstances might make them desperate to find the girl. Meiji agreed as she was tempted by the money and desperate to clear her debt. But we know how Wanchai was always driven to do the right thing, so he wanted to help the child out of the goodness of his heart and return her safely to her parents. So, Wanchai made a plan and went to the middle of the village, set off the siren of the ambulance, and flashed the lights to signal Bank and the girl. This clever move worked, and they were finally reunited with the child.
Did the girl return to her father?
In that chaotic community, some dangerous gangs were operating, including the ones led by Darlie, Sumeth, and Jacky, who were involved in everything from cocaine trading to human trafficking and organ harvesting. When Darlie heard that the police were coming to rescue the girl from their turf, he came up with a plan and offered to cooperate with the police in exchange for protection and made a promise to hand over the girl and even his rival gang leader, Sumeth. The police were desperate to find the girl so they agreed. Darlie sent word for everyone to search for the child, but Wanchai, Meiji, Bank, and Saisin had already taken her and were trying to escape through a secret tunnel under the house project to sneak out to avoid both the police and the gangs. They thought they were safe, but soon realized they had been tricked, because the man who was guiding them was actually leading them straight into Darlie’s trap. As gang members closed in, they raced toward the village gate to escape. That’s when Meiji took the lead and managed to open the door for the others to pass through. She stayed behind to hold off the gang, especially Darlie, who was after them.
Just as Darlie was about to capture them, the police arrived to save the girl and promised to return her to her father, Mr. Wichai. But it wasn’t that simple, as the police chief had his own agenda. It became clear that he wanted to sell the girl to the very gang leader who had planned the kidnapping, just to make some extra money. Saisin tried to explain that the job had been called off, but the police chief didn’t care. the chief even let his men kill Bank right in front of Saisin to instill fear in him. Saisin realized that he was about to be killed, and that’s why he begged Wanchai to promise him one thing: no matter what happened, Wanchai had to return the girl to her father. It looked like he did not really want the girl to be kidnapped but his situation made him do so. When they finally reached the gang leader’s turf, a gunfight broke out, and the police chief ended up killing Saisin. But on their turf policemen were not feared instead they were the most hated beings and the very reason for the chaos in their area so, the police chief was also handed over to Jacky for organ trading. And at the end, when the teenage protester came and realized that the girl was with Wanchai, the very man who had saved his life, he ordered his gang members to let them go. Thanks to Wanchai’s goodwill and bravery, he successfully managed to return the girl safely to her father, Mr. Wichai.
And what about Meiji? Well, while she was in the village, she helped many women who had open wounds and injuries from all the chaos and treated them when they couldn’t get proper medical care. Because of her kindness, when the gangs came after Meiji, the women of the village came to her defense. Not only was Meiji saved, but in the end, we see that she became a paramedic herself. As for Wanchai, for his courage, he was rewarded and got his old job back as an advanced care ambulance driver. In the end, the protestors won, and the village was saved from being taken over by developers. It seemed like the deal fell through, and the people got to keep their homes. we can hope that Meiji and Wanchai will continue to work together to save lives just like they did before, and maybe even make an even bigger impact in the future.
