Owning and renting out apartments in Patong

Firstly you need to have money into a bank account in Thailand coming from abroad in USD to get a FET ( Foreign Exchange Transaction ) from your bank.

You don't need lawyer, however somebody speaking Thai can help you to check title deed ( Land Office always get a copy of this one to ensure the one of the seller was not a fake ), check also if the condo unit you want to buy is Thai or foreigner own as there is some quota for a condominium ( 49% for foreigners ), check also common charges, to be sure everything has been paid by the owner but also to ensure that the global management is efficient and well done ( sometimes many does not pay it ) and this will be reflect in the current state of the condominium ( not clean, lift not working, pool not maintained, etc.... ) this will pull you out when viewing..

About eviction, I will say that many rent out their appartment without declaring the income or paying taxes, often to evict somebody they will not go through procedure, but pressure or pay police, etc...

Contract are usually longterm 6 to 12 months unless you want to do holidays rental, in all the case yu will need a friend to manage it here in case of problem, or repair to be done, or emergency to deal with as you will be abroad.

Lease of more than 3 years must be registered to Land Office.

Avoid agency which will take 3% commission, there are others fees and taxes to pay like stamp duty 0.5% ( seller duty ), transfer fees ( 2% usually split 50/50 between seller and buyer but it is seller responsibiity ), business tax ( 3.3% seller duty ) if any, withholding taxes ( variable, also seller duty )

Avoid also to buy off plan, many scams, and last thing I will say Phuket is on top of properties scam in Thailand ( whichever land, house, condo, timeshare, etc.... ) many foreigners have lost their money

I can't understand what you mean by title insurance ?,