Strange that not being paid for not working has now turned to how badly you perceive yourselves to be employed. It's simple and there’s nothing right wing or conservative about it – you don’t like it, you leave. You go back to Europe and ‘the dole’ as people put it, where at least you’ll be fed and housed and have free medicine. What on earth is difficult to understand about that?

You can’t live on 30/40k in Bangkok? I don’t blame you, but have you ever thought of looking elsewhere for work, somewhere in Isaan where the cost of living is cheaper? You’re not prepared to eat Thai food? Too ‘beneath’ you is it? Straight off the dole in the UK and want to live it up in the capital playing the ‘big farang’? I am not better than anyone else, I simply perhaps have a little more sense than those of you who whinge on about having the same rights as in the UK or the U.S? You want those rights? Go back if you can’t hack it here!

You are correct, we only have one support system and that being ourselves and my original post asks why are you in the mess you’re in for not having saved a little for emergencies? There follows a tirade of it’s the schools fault, it’s the governments fault, my wage is too low, I’m not living on Thai food. You say in Thailand there are teachers who get paid 15,000 a month? I can assure you that I didn’t force them to work for that amount and I think that you wouldn’t find any in Bangkok working for that. I have never said (I repeat) that the Thais do not have a social safety net, it is we foreigners who don’t and it is up to us to look after ourselves. Again I repeat, if you are unable to do so then go back to Europe or wherever. The Thai boss does not have to save up for a rainy day because it’s not his rainy day, it’s yours.

Can we stop comparing conditions in Europe or the U.S to Thailand? You know the score here, (or perhaps you don’t) You pay 750 baht a month for insurance if you’re legal? Really? I was legal and didn’t. The school paid for my insurance and I topped it up to provide reasonable cover. You’re not paid enough? Go back home and try the minimum wage. The bottom line is that I don’t have a problem. Some of you guys do and that problem is of your own making in not being able to put a little bit aside each month, instead of blaming everyone else for it. Try the foreign Embassy, see what they say when you tell them you require assistance because you couldn’t or wouldn’t save.

I’ll tell you what the problem is; you’re in the wrong place with the wrong attitude; grow up and learn to adapt and stop blaming everyone else for the mess you’re in. This isn’t Europe. Is that what you were expecting? Has it all been a bit of a disappointment? Are you slowly learning that this isn’t the paradise you thought it was? Stop scratching your head and making excuses. I say this with all respect, but some of the letters I read should be signed 'loser'. You couldn't hack it in the UK or wherever and you've got the same problem here. No change there then.

James