Barclays threatened to close my so I just transferred the money to my Santander and they never closed it. Not sure why buy you need more than one account to be safe
I own my condo because it’s in a foreign name. So the Condo block has to be 51% Thai owners and 49% ferlang ownership. A ferlang condo will cost a bit more.
So rent for a bit and get a feel for what you want. I play golf here so getting in and out for that was a priority. Maybe you want the beach or have other interests so just rent while you come over as there are loads of deals out there. Hop all goes well.