I'm often amazed by the people who think they KNOW the scene but they don't listen and learn. No, I am not an expert and I have a lot to learn, but I am willing to learn. Befriend a few girls and get taken to the places THEY like to go. You'll see a whole different scene. PDogg and I got taken by a regular of mine to a bar where the girls barfine the Thai boys (they all look like they are in boy bands). Barfine is 900 and ST upstairs runs 2K. And there were LOTS of customers, and most of them were bargirls, one was my girl's friend who was a real hottie that was not quite old enough to buy cigarettes. :) Another that came with us buggered off to a karaoke place to give a Thai guy 1500 baht to fuck her (she only had 2 customers that day, so couldn't afford the 2.9K that the Soi Chayapoom place charged.
PDogg has lived here for years, and so have I, and we were genuinely educated, to say the least.
What does this have to do with money? You will see where the money you spend goes. Hang out deep in Soi Chayapoom and see the Thai p4p scene with girls as the customers. Go to Tham Nan Khon Isaan and watch a table of BGs and LBs and their boyfriends drink the fruits of one (or more) of their labors.
Another guy I know of paid for the payments on a car for the family. Of course, the father already owned the car but put it in someone else's name so he could by it back with dumbshit's money. Som Num Naa!
It is best to pay the going rate and save your money for a more useful cause, as once it leaves your hand into the girl's, it does not usually go to what I would consider "building a better life."
Or if you're here for two weeks, just enjoy the ride. But realize that what you hear and see is only for your amusement. Don't take it seriously.
And Thai's are not interested in some pompous attitude that the Thai way is the bad way, and the western way is the good way. Don't fuck with their lives, and don't ask questions. As someone once said, "pay your money, have fun, then get the fuck home."