Hundreds of thousands of Thai young women leave their rural homes to work in the factories of Bangkok. They are the backbone of Thailand's economic success, yet are looked upon as almost less than human. Behind the Smile explores the lives and culture of these young women who live in crowded dormitories or shacks with few possessions, homesick for their families. Yet the money they earn is so desparately needed by their families that they must stay for years in their grim servitude.

Through portraits of three women, we see the human cost of the country's rapid industrialization. Amoan, at nineteen, has been working in a textile factory for five years amidst the endless dust and never ending noise. As a good Buddhist daughter, she sends all her money home and spends nothing on herself. Laiad and her husband had to leave their children in the village. They rarely see them. Willaiwon after working in the same factory for fourteen years for minimum wage has become a union organizer. A whole generation of women has disappeared from the villages, changing traditions for ever.

"...useful in showing something of modern Thai social problems." Asian Educational Media Service

Association for Asian Studies, 1998