Schicksalstage in Bangkok (2009)

mini|left|Bangkok skyline at sunset Six weeks after her husband Georg’s accidental death, Victoria Wessendorf decides to fly to Bangkok to take care of Georg’s affairs in person. He had just bought an expensive apartment, which Vicky wants to sell as soon as possible. A few incidents make Victoria suspect that Georg may have been having an affair with his business partner, June van Driel. With the help of Georg’s secretary, Elke Klein, Vicky manages to find out where the woman is staying. When she visits, she meets June’s mother, Harriet van Driel, the managing director of the real estate company where June also works. June van Driel is currently looking for a private tutor for her daughter, Anna. The applicant for the position is expected to arrive at any moment. Harriet van Driel mistakes Vicky for the expected applicant. At first Vicky tries to clear up the misunderstanding, but then lets it stand and pretends to be the tutor so she can find out more about June van Driel. June is on her way to her brother Tim’s tea plantation in northern Thailand, and Vicky is now expected to come along. Vicky and Anna quickly develop a close bond. Vicky does her best and teaches Anna, among other things, German and piano. She is also supposed to teach her Chinese, which she does not know. Vicky makes do with a dictionary so she can at least speak a few words of Chinese with a businessman who has arrived from China. To her relief, he speaks fluent German, allowing Vicky to continue concealing her true identity. Meanwhile, another visitor is expected at the tea plantation: an architect named Georg Wessendorf, Vicky’s husband, whom she believed to be dead. Vicky is stunned and distraught. She believes her husband’s death was faked to conceal the true state of affairs. In fact, Georg’s secretary had simply neglected to cancel a flight that had been booked before Georg’s death. When the real applicant turns up at the real estate office to retrieve her application documents, Harriet van Driel travels to the plantation to confront Vicky. Vicky reveals her true identity and learns that June van Driel has been in a relationship with Georg for a long time, and that Anna was born from their relationship. June had also given Georg the apartment—as a gesture of love and as a place where he could live with Anna if June did not survive her cancer. Now that she has to undergo chemotherapy again, she is worried about her child’s future. Vicky and June have a frank conversation. Although mistrust marked the beginning of their acquaintance, the two now reach a tacit understanding. Vicky decides to stay in Thailand for the time being and wait to see how June’s illness develops, so she can be there for Anna if necessary. She picks June up from the hospital, and together they plan to celebrate Anna’s birthday. The little girl is delighted when her mother brings Vicky along.