[massagelondon]

Bangkok is a sprawling city and travelling is a big hustle - so being close to the public transport is very important if you don't have your own car/bike.

a paradox of this city is that skyscrapper and posh housing estates do mix with slums next to them and there is not any no-no areas where there is a higher danger than anywhere else around (I would say with an exception of red districts where there is a bigger chance of coming across strange or bad people - apparently many foreigners do congregate there).

I would rather stay away from the main shopping and commercial areas around Sukhumwit road simply because of the noise, pollution, constant traffic jams as well as inflated prices for everything from accommodation to drinking water. Those charges are not justified by the quality - simply they are tourist rip off.

You don't have to to open thai bank account - however for the tax purpose it would be good to have your wages payed there. For the time money can go into your british bank and you withdraw it from the atm. Depending on your visa and house registration papers you would be able to open a thai bank account.

As to visa - in your case, most probably, will be a student visa which is valid for 1 year. Simply you pay some £500 for the school and spare yourself problems with travelling abroad every 3 months.

What probably you would need is a fast internet connection for your work - many appartments do offer them as part of the service, but because the line is used by tens of tenants/guests it's often very slow, many times slower than what you got promissed when signing a contract.