Brits abroad should have by now realised that over-attentive pretty Thai ladies mean trouble. Adam (Laing) is clearly oblivious, as he gets merrily entangled with beautiful masseuse, Em (Nakprasitte) and her crooked ex-pat friends.
The biggest problem here is that Adam is a wholly unappealing character. Phoning his parents when things go wrong yet refusing any offers to fly him home, he comes across as an immature brat. Attempts to explore his inner turmoil with a flat voiceover only make him more slappable.
The Thai cast fare slightly better than the Brits, but it's a constant struggle against plot twists that most soap operas would be ashamed of and a heavy dose of cloying sentimentality. Watching Butterfly Man is like being subjected to your aunty's holiday slides: the scenes are occasionally pretty and exotic but the experience is empty and increasingly tedious.