I left Thailand in 2018, after 20 years of living there.
Up until 2014 I had worked in the oil industry, and spent breaks in Thailand, 6 weeks away working, followed by a 3 week break in Thailand.
By the end of 2017 I had been 3 years without work and was getting incredibly bored in Thailand, I also wasn't in a relationship or messing around in the bar-scene there. Partly due to this, by the time I decided to leave Thailand I still had quite a lot in savings left from when I did work, £XX,000. This meant that going back to the UK was quite easy.
It was just as well that I had that money, as on 2 occasions I had to pay 7 month's rent (nearly (£4,000 a time) when moving into properties.
Also, because I had lived overseas, and hadn't insured a car for more than 5 years, my car insurance cost around double (around £1500) what it would have cost. One company refused to insure me at all!
I did manage to open a UK bank/current account, but because I had not maintained a financial presence in the UK, I had no 'credit-rating'.
When I moved back I was only 53, so still had another 14 years of working life until state pension age. I started doing some agency delivery driving work, but got a full time position, where I have now been for 3 years.
When I left Thailand I probably could've stayed there another 2 or 3 years, but was getting very bored, and I knew that I had to 'grasp the nettle', leave Thailand, and get a job.