My affluent Thai neighbor informed me that directions came from Sri Ayudhya headquarters to review visa applications in details due to disgruntled scammers for the next four years. We can never have good things due to some blue people!
If a person opens a bank account in Pattaya in a big Thai bank (say Bangkok bank which have branches all over the country) , can he live in a different city? Most transactions are done electronically nowadays. Although, you still need to deal with them personally once a year for the dreaded visa extension.