You can only own condos as an expat, unless you are American. Apparently we have a treaty with Thailand stemming from the Viet Name era that allows us to buy land.

As far as services go, medical care is good to excellent (major medical tourism destination), electricity is pretty reliable, long distance bus service is good, there are a lot of budget airlinges, and there is high speed internet everywhere except the smaller islands.

The Muslim south has a separatist movement that is setting off bombs quite frequently. The group has announced that it is especially targetting, among other things, schools.