I'm with you.
There's more to this story.
That said, in Thailand, 50,000 baht is a good sum.
Baht was 40 baht to the Dollar when I was last there in August 2003. That's about $1250 bucks. When you realize how cheap stuff in Thailand is, that's like $20,000 USD here in the states. Considering the wages of the average Thai, that's probably a couple years pay.
Oh and who's with me that Thai women are probably in the top 3 for most beautiful in the world. Stunning. The men on the other hand are goofy looking and when they speak it sounds like the Aliens from "Mars Attacks". Brapt Rat Vap Rak, Rak, ping Bat, bat bing ping pot Bat.
20/20 did a story on Thailand several years ago, they said You have to be careful in Thailand because a lot of the women are actually guys. It was a very weird story.