I even don't understand why teaching English in Thailand is popular among Americans. You can go to work in Australia, for example, at a farm for several months, and raise money for one more year of traveling, then you can enjoy life and learn some programming language in the evening or create art, or anything. Or you can start online business or anything. Teaching sucks much time and mental energy, and teachers' salaries in Thailand aren't too big. Teaching English isn't career (for most Americans) and it isn't freedom, it combines the worst of the both.
I am not an American and have never been a teacher so this is just reasoning without real experience. Maybe, I am wrong in this.
I basically agree with this and that is why I am cutting it short. For me, teaching English in Thailand is just a way to keep getting visas while doing something that give you just enough money to continue living here.