Hey, Ying. Yeap, I know what you speak of. There are a few luxury cars in my school's lot down here in Thai-ville. They don't belong to any of the students, and they damn sure don't belong to any of the teachers, farang or Thai.

I'll tell you why it's like this at my digs: the school's nothing more than a front. Maybe it's a tax shelter. Maybe it's more--much more.

My school's kings and queens know they can replace a farang or Thai teacher in a heartbeat. They've had lots of practice, after all. 39 total teachers have come and gone in three years. 41 farang have come and gone in four years.

One planeload of teachers leaves as another planeload of teachers is coming in. It's the ol' revolving door problem, and school owners both here and in China milk it for all it's worth. They don't have to worry about paying decent salaries. Why would school owners pay decent salaries when they know at least some of those on the incoming planes will work for scraps?