If you move to Thailand when you are younger and then find out a year, 5 or 10 years later that you cannot financially survive, you are wasting those years of your life in terms of income and career development.
Expats that are forced to move home, struggle to find meaningful employment when the potential employers see’s they have been living in Thailand the past years and not working a meaningful job.
While you are off enjoying living in Thailand, the working world is evolving with advanced software, tools, skills, education, etc.
Teaching English or other menial jobs do not count for anything when you are forced to return home.
It is often over-looked and a very hard lesson to learn, for those whose financial struggles forcing them to move home, are already causing enough stress and discomfort.
Going home and forced to stay with parents while taking a meaningless job that will not allow you to save enough for a life of your own.
The earlier in your years that you understand this, the better chance you might be able to make a financial recovery and still have a retirement.
All those old expats you see in Thailand worked their entire lives and saved to be able to retire in Thailand.
Thailand is not cheap and takes a ton of money over the course of a lifetime to be able to stay there.
Every year wasted in Thailand when you are young, is one year you are not saving or developing towards retirement.