Yes, I have read "Private Dancer" by Stephen Leather and find it represents a possible scenario of peoples lives - thai and farang - from something like the Patpong or Pattaya bar scene.
I have also read several of Timothy Hallinan's novels, like Breathing Water and Nail thorugh the Heart an find them a good read.
The one who has got me hooked the most is John Burdett, I find he screws with my mind, my perception of reality by putting forward concepts for his novels which are outside the realm of western thinking, but the (western) reader comes to realize is fully within the realm of the possible in Thai culture.
One example is his novel Bangkok Haunts, where a bar girl is the initiator behind a snuff movie where she is to be deliberately killed as part of the sex scene, she wants to make the money for her family and she goes through with it.
Only at the end does it become clear to the police, the investigator and the reader that she staged it all and that this is possible for someone with a buddist mindset, as our current life is just a transition from a previous live to the next one.
Furthermore - according to buddist hinking, if you do unselfish good for others in this life you are positioned for rebirth higher up on the ladder of social hierarchy, money, love and respect in your next life.
John Burdett f*cks with our mind to unsettle our perception or reality, then he molds it to insert a new perception of reality, a Thai one, and we learn something new, a mind expanding experience which we may not even want.
So, if you don't want it dont read him, I cannot stay away, though.
I encourage you to post a review of other English language books in a Thai setting under this thread to share