Peter Kernan is a disillusioned American relief worker stationed in Thailand. Burned-out and desperate for cash, Kernan is lured into a corrupt scheme by a Belgian embassy official, Carl Pimmler, to deliver rare medicine across the Cambodian border to a rural war lord. With his long-time friend Khoy Thoun, a Cambodian refugee whose entire family had fallen victim to the Khmer Rouge, and a beautiful, strong-willed French Red Cross worker, Johanna, whose feelings for Peter are complicated by her marriage of convenience to Pimmler. All three embark on this adventure rather cynically, having lost their former ideals in the daily struggle to survive in a turbulent region. But after encountering many obstacles on their trip and overcoming much adversity, they finally come to realize they can make a difference in a lawless world.