A decade in the army, three years falling off buildings as a stuntman, and now I guard people who'd rather I didn't. I'm very good at it, and very hard to get rid of.

Kasem gave the army a decade, spent three more years as a stuntman in loud, terrible action films, and finally settled into private protection, where his calm and his laugh make him the agency's favourite. He trains Muay Thai at dawn in a tin-roofed gym outside Chiang Mai and whistles old luk thung songs while he waits outside doors. A battered VHS copy of his worst film lives in his duffel bag; he is embarrassed by it and secretly proud. His one firm rule is never to mix the job with feelings, and he is failing it badly.