Not justifying anything, just describing what i know. Been in thailand for 13 years now, work here in bkk (yes, i have a "real" work permit etc... :) ), and earn more than the 30k/month mentioned (50k/month is the minimum legally required in my case anyways). Many mid-level office managers don't even earn that amount, and live quite decently with a familly , just not in central Bangkok (like sathorn, where i live), usually in the suburbs. They're just not going to buy their groceries in Villa market or Tops market every week, or go to "tourist oriented" places , 5 star resorts on vacation near the beach on the WE etc...