Yep , typical western chauvinistic attitude ,,,cant speak for the thais but i expect they are similar to the phillipinos who are well regarded as tradesmen in the welding industry ....
If I recall, 40% of the world's merchant marine are Filipinos. Solid workers. To add cost into the equation: my fabricator acquired the Ti tubing, updated the mid-pipe, updated the headers and all for a princely sum, out the door price of about USD $234 / €208. Not bad eh?