I was told that if I change my retirement visa to a marriage visa and something happens to my Thai husband (I am American BTW) (and we have two children here with us) that I would have only 30 days to leave the country! But if I stay on my retirement visa I can stay.
If you’re worried about racism here, I would say don’t worry. I have two kids who are half black & have not had any issues here. We are in our third year here though, and I can honestly say I don’t think I have seen more than ten black people here total. We have been in Pattaya, Bangkok & HuaHin.
We did it (with a hired driver) about five years ago. We took three days to get there, stopped at beaches & temples along the way. It’s doable. But I would hire a driver.