Should I transfer my UK pension directly to Thailand or to a UK bank account first?

I've seen comments about UK banks closing accounts if you are not living in UK, I haven't found that to be the case for me but it might be true for some banks. I am with HSBC and have my Thailand address registered with them plus I have been living full time in Thailand since 2012 and don't have a problem. HSBC is advertised as an 'international' bank so maybe it's different to other UK banks. All banks are different regarding money transfers and I can only talk about the banks I've used, before I left UK I had to go into my other bank to transfer money in person or use a service like Wise which is why I opened the HSBC account and I can transfer using the Internet for a fee of about £4 and I always transfer in GBP doing the exchange in my Thai bank (Kasikorn) for the best rate. Do what I did, go to the banks and ask them directly about what happens if you move and how you will be able to manage transfers without being in UK. As far as having the pension paid into a Thai bank, that's a possibility but I prefer to have it paid into my UK bank and transfer it when the exchange rate is higher and also transfering it in GBP as if it's paid direct to the Thai bank the exchange is more likely to be done in the UK bank (they make more money that way) and it will be worse plus you will be paying a transfer fee each time so you could lose quite a bit of money over the year. Just in caase you are wondering, yes I have informed UK pensions that I am living in Thailand so that is not the reason that I am still using a UK bank. Another concern might be if you intend to make frequent trips to UK and if so having money in the UK bank makes more sense, I don't go back so that's not the reason for me.