If you are a native English speaker, have a college degree, teaching certificate, or TOEFL certificate, you can probably teach ESL in Thailand. Check online for jobs, or look at the
http://www.ajarn.com/ job board.
If you are willing to live like a Thai, such as eating local food, taking public transportation, or buying a used motorbike, you can live cheaply here.
Many US kids come here right out of college, and tend to spend their salaries on drinking, drugs, partying at resorts, buying cars, eating meals at expensive western style restaurants, renting western style apartments, and they are often/usually broke.