At that moment Graham looked out of the window and saw the myriad lights of the city blinking back, this city of angels and demons, which not merely co-existed but too often merged into one another in a baffling but exhilarating way...

OutUK: Graham the main character of the book swapped his dreary life in South London for something more exciting in Bangkok. When you lived in Bangkok did you get to know many people who had done the same?
Robin: Swapped dreary South London for Bangkok? Yes, me for one! I was working in a dead-end graduate job and was on holiday in Thailand when I got an interview for a job at Bangkok's answer to Time Out. I was offered the job shortly after I got back to London and packed my bags. I met a lot of fellow "adventurers" along the way. What really informed my writing in the book is that Bangkok, probably like any big city, is a place that attracts people wanting change and the chance to reinvent themselves. In fact, a lot of the people I became acquainted with were probably running away, me to a certain extent. Graham definitely. The only thing with running away is that your problems catch up with you eventually unless you tackle them head on, so that was a kind of hook I used in Bangkok Burning.

OutUK: Gray invested all his savings in a bar, and then he lost the lot - but he gained so much as well didn't he?
Robin: Yes, to an outsider, it may seem Gray took a crazy gamble by giving up everything and moving to Bangkok. But as his mate, Nigel, says in the book, "What are you really giving up?" He was a closeted man trapped in an abusive marriage and he couldn't see himself living out another 20-30 years of that "prison sentence". He had to do something. I think for a lot of people facing middle age, it's a time to take stock and change things or face the rest of your life being unhappy or worse. Graham had the balls to do it and I think that's what the story's about. It takes real courage to change things that aren't working, especially at a certain time of life. People tend to stay in marriages they hate and jobs they detest because they don't have the guts to move on. I hope it's a salutary tale because despite losing material wealth in the end Gray actually finds himself.

OutUK: The city seems to be entirely driven by money - if you have it, you have power, if you don't, you are a nobody. Is it really so stark in reality?
Robin: For a place seemingly wedded to religion, most of the population is Buddhist, I was amazed by how driven by money it is. But I think that's down to the fact it's the Third World we're talking about. Everyone who doesn't have money wants it, those who've got it want more and more. The divide between rich and poor in Bangkok is huge, bigger than I've seen anywhere else. The rich are obscenely so and ostentatious with it, while the poor have nothing. It's sad, but those with money can buy anything in the city, like everything's for sale provided you can pay. When I was living there, a local politician's son, infamous for being a thug, shot up some bar and killed someone, but he never even stood trial. It's definitely one rule for the rich in a place like Bangkok and you need to be careful whose toes you're stepping on.

OutUK: There's a lot of corruption in your book - with the Police taking their cut of bar takings from all the outlets. There's bars burnt down and people killed with little or no investigation. Is Bangkok really so lawless?
Robin: Totally. The city's like the Wild West. Rather than respected, the police are feared. One foreign owner of a local gay bar I used to frequent told me the local constabulary demanded a third of his takings for protection money. He knew he'd be forced out of business one way or another if he didn't comply, especially being a foreigner - who are always viewed as being "rich" in Thailand, despite that often being far from the case. Foreigners are charged double what local people are at many attractions, for example. A policeman's salary only amounts to about £200 month but you always see them driving around in BMWs and Mercedes. That says a lot. In fact Thaksin Shinawatra, who was prime minister when I lived there, now on the run and wanted in Thailand on corruption charges was a former policeman. He was once said to be the richest man in the kingdom!

OutUK: You paint a fascinating picture of gay life there and the sex industry both gay and straight. Would you say it's an industry that thrives there?
Robin: In many ways Thailand's a beautiful country despite the clichés about the sex industry but like a lot of clichés, it happens to be true. There is a thriving sex industry and while a lot of the media seem to represent this as a problem created by Western tourists, apparently 90% of the trade is for local men. It's a poor country and most of the sex workers come from the northeast, the most impoverished part of this Third World nation. Sadly it's simple economics and sex has become another commodity to be bought and sold. I met one local lad who said he used to work in McDonald's for six days a week flipping burgers and earning a pittance, almost like a life of slavery. He turned to prostitution and could afford the latest phone, the fashionable clothes, eat in the best restaurants. When someone puts it like that, who are we to judge?

When they come a cropper, it's a shock but that's only because they never stopped to ask the reason why...

OutUK: Were they anything like as focused on self-preservation as Natasha?
Robin: I think a lot of them are tough due to what it takes to transition. A lot of ladyboys are shunned by their families, for example, and I've heard some of them are even beaten. The good thing is that many turn to each other for support and they form surrogate families. The ones I made friends with in Koh Samui all lived with one another. I wouldn't say it was all one big happy family but they were there for each other, had each other's backs. They do seem very determined, however. Noi, one of the ladyboys I met, turned to prostitution to be able to afford the operation to transition. She was resigned to what she was doing but very single-minded. She knew what she wanted and how to get it.

OutUK: The Thai characters in your book seem to want to almost demean visitors - calling them "Farang" amongst other things. Was that your experience in Bangkok?
Robin: Like ladyboys, I got the impression, having lived in Thailand five years, that foreigners are tolerated but not really accepted. There is some weird rule that foreigners can't own private property and there's also the double charging I mentioned earlier, where Westerners often pay more for things than so-called locals. If you live there it doesn't seem to make any difference, you're still viewed as rich. My experience informed Graham's in the book. I think he felt he could live there for years and years and years but still be regarded as a "farang" (foreigner). I love Thai postboxes, they have two slots - one is entitled "Thailand" and the second "other places" like it's in outer space. It's a very monoracial culture that seems to shun outside influences.

"A dark, exotic love story... One man's struggle to find himself." - Boyz magazine

OutUK: What was best about it?
Robin: Meeting my then partner, Kitcharoen. The book's in his memory.

OutUK: What was the worst?
Robin: It's very hard to be accepted as a foreigner. Bangkok is not like London, which I think accepts all comers. As much as I loved the place, I often felt it didn't love me back.

OutUK: What's been the reaction to this book?
Robin: The reaction's been really good. I'd been working on Bangkok Burning sporadically for the last year or two, so to finally get it published by The Conrad Press was wonderful but to get a positive reception too has been a lovely bonus. One book blogger described it as "bringing the brutal streets of Bangkok to life". I think that nails it as while the novel's about protagonist Graham, the city is also a character in its own right. Bangkok Burning has been nominated for the Diverse Book Award and it's also been entered for the "gay Booker" - the Polari Prize.

OutUK: What are going to write about for your next book?
Robin: My next thriller - Hunted - is going to be set in the mid-1980s. The main character is a policeman trying to come to terms with his sexuality - sound familiar - in the period of Thatcher and Aids. He's also bogged down in an investigation that takes him to the very brink and right into London's seedy underbelly, searching for a missing teenage boy that he knows in his gut has been abducted. His superiors don't want to know but PC Hanwell just won't let it lie!

Robin Newbold's is a journalist who's recently returned to London after living in Asia for six years and has had a number of lifestyle and travel features published by the likes of The Times, Time Out, the South China Morning Post, Asia Times, Bangkok Metro and Traveller.

Bangkok Burning and Robin's previous books, Vacuum-Packed & Bloody Summer, are available from Amazon. Bangkok Burning can also be purchased in paperback from Queer Lit and Gay Pride Shop. You can find out more about Robin's writing at robinnewbold.com.