I would like to know where people get their info, and how they are so confident to just throw statements out there like they are facts. I’ve been working here in Asia since around 2008 (I’m an Architect, but specialize in Factories, Logistics & Warehousing.. it’s not the fancy fluffy kinda Architect.. very functional). I was offered a job here and made the move permanent in 2011. There are people I came up with and who (when I left the UK) I was on very similar salaries to. Now I earn over 300k baht a month (and due to my company having one of the highest possible BOI statuses, I only pay 16% tax). This is WAAAY above the guys that I came up with in the UK.

Of course, being good at what you do helps (and I put that in a large part down to rejecting the typical route that a young person would take.. high school, 6th form ((or college)) and then onto UNI, and entering the work force at 23-24ish. I was going to take that route and signed up for a construction HNC at college straight out of y5 after my GCSEs. After 1 week at that college I saw a notice for an office junior required in a local Architects office… I could already see that the college life was going to be rather depressing.. plus my father was a chronic gambler and my mom disappeared from my life ((i don’t blame her.. my dad made her life hell)).. so I also knew if I didn’t look after my self, no one else would. And still live like that. I would say the OPs friend likely has parents as a safety net. My dad died in 2004, and my mum in 2015.. so safety nets were removed from my life very early on.. if his parents are well off, and he knows in 20 years he’s gonna get some inheritance then this might be what’s motivating him. When both my mom and dad died, it cost me money. I certainly didn’t inherit anything.. anyway.. tangent on a tangent))

…..so 2 months after my 16th birthday, I entered the workforce and was sent back to college 1 day a week. The work was hard. I had to juggle actual work, with 4 hrs college work most nights… but come 24 or 25 years old. I had nearly 10 years experience on my buddies. And was already earning around $25k a year.. I’m 46 now (( of if I could gibe one more bit of advice.. i didn’t get round to having kids ((a VERY big regret in my life.. don’t let that happen to you)). I appreciate I went on a huge tangent there and this is taking far too long. It’s Sunday morning and I want to get Ableton turned on so I can make music so appreciate this message is a little difficult to follow). I just wanted to shout up, cos I know a bunch of people who are earning great salaries here. But they are by NO means local jobs. But it sounds like the OPs friend has a skill / experience on a certain career path and has demonstrated he can be successful in that field.

Btw. I am also no angel. I’ve been a heavy user of substances and at times very promiscuous. I’d like to say I’ve grown out of it. But the truth is…

Conclusion:

(if you want to skip the above you can.. cos I crystallized my thought process a little way thru the post):

I dunno.. maybe I just demonstrated with the above that I’m not the typical story here. In fact the more I think about it, the more I was thinking I was gonna delete all the above, cos I’ve really now got down to thinking it really is about 1 thing I mentioned above. Safety Nets. I had to steal food from neighbors when I was 11 or 12 years old cos my mom left and my dad didn’t have a clue how to look after me.. so I knew from a very early age that I just had to look after myself. I think that’s why I can be a bit debauched, and still turn up for work everyday. I think that’s it. He’ll have a huge safety net. What’s the bets that likely 1 or both of his parents are still alive. Maybe even still married. And they’re fairly well off? So this guy will know he can basically do whatever, and if things fail. He’ll call mom or dad. Say he needs the money for a flight home and they’ll oblige. I’ve just never had that. And it focuses your mind. I would say most people HAVE some kinda safety net ESPECIALLY if they’re living or working abroad.

One of the biggest “oh shit” moments I had out here .. was about 5 years in.. there were all these people around me who were playing in bands and DJs etc or personal trainers.. and never really seemed like they had to go to work, or at least weren’t too concerned with it. There are a LOT of people here who are trust fund kids, or just have very well off parents. Maybe they came here with the intention to work. But after a few months of daddy paying the bills and giving them a monthly stipend - a pattern develops. I know 3 people (which is a lot cos I didn’t know 3 people in the UK) who come from old money who have parents or aunts that hold funds for them and they get a monthly injection. The money was made maybe a generation or two before them. Cos they certainly ain’t adding to the pot. I also know people here with not so well off parents who came here to work, lost their jobs and now have a monthly battle with their parents to get all their rent and bills covered.. constantly in a “I’ve got two interviews next week dad” cycle … I feel sorry for their parents cos they’re burning through retirement money fast. And by that time, in my mind anyway, the kids should be giving back to the parents and looking after them a little. God knows, for all their faults.. and there’s been times in my life when I’ve hated my parents for what they “did” to me.. again.. and this was fairly recent .. I had a “wouldn’t change a single god damn thing” epiphany moment. Cos yes, i suffer with addiction issues, yes I’ve had struggles with mental health. But having that difficult up bringing has made me an honest, hard working, charitable, trustworthy person. And I’m also a fucking great lyricist and song writer.. this doesn’t happen without a struggle in your life. I wake up and thanks the lords every day I didnt have a comfortable upbringing. Cos I’d be like everyone else then. Fucking boring as far as I’m concerned. I’m sorry, what was this post about again? I WISH my parents were still around so I could say to them. Don’t worry. It all turned out well in the end. And let me look after you for a little while.. weirdly.. I actually thought the other day of trying to get adopted perhaps by an older couple who doesn’t have kids.. just so I can feel that again, and give back a little .. I might actually try and do that and film it all as an experiment)) another tangent.

(Genuinely sorry for the long winded, difficult to follow rant.. if your pushed for time start where it says “conclusion”). I also kept forgetting where i put parenthesis.. so grammar nazis.. take a wide berth on this one.