For the specific questions brought up here I'd suggest contacting the Thailand Elite office (TPC). As I understand there should be no problem with any of what you've outlined but they would be able to explain the mechanics of it. TPC is a membership that includes a visa (rather than a visa per se), and that membership doesn't expire if it's temporarily interrupted by switching to another visa class that allows for employment, rather it's just put on hold for a time. Not sure whether this would also apply to the other privileges such as airport fast track, limos etc.
Generally if I see a book with a title like "Hello big honey, my name Fon" I give it a wide berth. But there's a world of difference when it's a respected and established author like Theroux who writes well and can really evoke a sense of time and place.
The best fiction I've read about the region generally is older stuff like Orwell "Burmese Days" (which also features a local liaison gone wrong), Somerset-Maugham's Far East literature etc.
Given that an earthquake is classed an "act of God" and the building that collapsed was to have been the future National Audit Office, could it be that God smote it down due to disapproval of the incoming Revenue Department proposals?
In one aspect he seems like a sort of evolution of that pick-up artist culture that was popular 20 years ago - he even seems to have taken on the style and appearance of Neil Strauss who wrote The Game. Not sure if the whole approach has aged so well, but the book was an interesting and entertaining read and the author was quite smart and likeable. Tate is somewhat more obnoxious and morally dubious, and has thrown politics and other things into the mix, but a lot of It's quite similar.
"Is Captain Rum joining us for this bring-a-sample party or is he going to sit this one out?"
"Oh no, he's been swigging his for ages. He says he likes it. Actually, come to think of it, he started before the water ran out."
Blackadder 2, Potato
That extra £3244 buys an additional £1000 per year. You'd break even on the investment in about 3 years, maybe 5 or 6 times higher than what you'd get from an open market annuity.