When a farang dies in Thailand, how easy or difficult is it for his widow to receive the funds in his bank account?

It all depends.

My wife and I are getting our wills set up and we have bank accounts in both joint and single names.

The single name bank accounts will be the hardest to get the money from especially if the farang has a bank account in the UK and other family in the UK as well.

It really boils down to how much trust you have in your wife and how much trust she has in you.

I know this statement will raise both sides but it is the truth.

We have a couple of houses and land, all in her name of course, and I have no problems with that at all.

If I die first it all goes to her including my pensions, If she dies first it will all go to our son except the pensions and as he is only 18 months old I will become his legal guardian so that I can stay in the house.

If we all die together it will go to my wifes parents unless they die after which it will go to her youngest brother and his family.

The best advice I can give is simple,

MAKE A WILL AS SOON AS YOU CAN AND TRY TO MAKE IT AIRTIGHT.

Also get it translated into a certified copy in English and get at least 2 copies of each for each of you.

A will is best, but for those who don't like to deal with courts and lawyers: a series of safes and deposit boxes is sometimes less troublesome than having to go through the courts. I've kept a "will" (along the lines of 'this property should go to... and this to... the bulk of my funds can be accessed by... using this password and pin combination... these accounts are linked to this account, etc.') for family members to execute for 10 years now (and obviously you have to tell trust them and tell them about it), am I'm only 30 now. What's the point of accumulating if you can't leave it to future generations, right?