Re political situation in Thailand: Media is massively exaggerating. I've been here through the protests in BKK & Chiang Mai, through the curfew and coup. It has nothing to do with us. As long as you don't stand in the middle of a stone throwing competition - which you shouldn't anywhere in the world - you're safe. It's very easy to avoid these things. In daily life you won't see anything that is affected by the situation - except maybe emptier hotels.

Keep an eye on the visa situation. Back to back visa runs over land are/will be a bit trickier from now on. Plane tickets of local low cost carriers are ridiculously cheap and plenty and will solve this issue every 30 days (I'm writing this out of Vientiane, Laos for this very reason. Visa run by plane + extended weekend to get to know Vientiane. They have a coworking space here as well: https://www.facebook.com/tohlao). You can also apply for a proper tourist visa in your home country and in countries around Thailand. This gives you piece of mind for 60-90 days. For a long term commitment you could consider an educational visa for one year. Language schools and even muay thai schools can provide you with them. If you attend them is a whole different story (some schools are entirely built around this concept.). Both - Chiang Mai and Bangkok are amazing places to live and bootstrap. When you come to BKK, make sure to check out http://hubbathailand.com/ - best coworking space I've ever come across. Peter from https://levels.io/ has some great content regarding coworking in TH.