how do you find the thais to deal with on a day to day basis?
Fine - like anywhere, it's a different culture and you just have to get in the groove of it. I lived in Japan before this and that was pretty hardcore culture-wise, so Thailand is relatively easy.
If you are nice to them they are nice to you.
On Friday I went out with a Thai couple (my wife couldn't make it) and our respective kids, to a nice breezy beer garden. I didn't really pay much attention to the fact they were Thai - it was just good food, drink & conversation. Shopping, bars, restaurants, schools, work - everyone seems nice to me.
If you are 60 and you turn up to a classy restaurant with an 18 year old girl with pink hair & her big fake tits busting out of a halter top OR if you are a skinhead in a wife beater and shouting your mouth off - then they might not seem so warm & friendly, especially in tourist areas. If find that people working in tourist areas all over the world have to put up with a lot of crap and you can always come across someone that's had their fill for the day.
Thailand has become considerably more friendly since they started importing this stuff..

But they do seem a little less friendly when they are behind the wheel of a car. Sometimes I'm not finished swearing at the last person that cut me up when some other fucker does it.