Some clarifications from the Euroland side of things:
Norwegian still has a pilot base in BKK. They are not hiring pilots to that base as it is actually in fairly high demand. Europeans, particularly Scandinavians, love Thailand and have no issues being based there. My wife works in crew planning for a small Scandinavian charter airline and whenever sim training in BKK is available, guys are climbing all over each other to get it. Also remember that Thai Airways was initially started by SAS (look at the old paint schemes of SAS and Thai - virtually identical), and SAS held a large stake in Thai until not too long ago. So yes, there is a BKK base, but it is fully staffed and has a long waiting list from Scandinavian pilots who want to get there.
European airlines operate very differently from U.S. airlines. Even the major European legacy airlines do not pay what the major U.S. airlines pay. Subcontracting and temporary contracts are very common among European airlines. There are many 6 month to one year contract available at many European airlines, including Star Alliance members Brussels Airlines and Aegean. British Airways has subcontracted some of their mainline flying to 737 charter airline Jet Time. SkyTeam member Air Europa is doing subcontract flying for WOW Air, an Icelandic LCC. There are contract agencies all over Europe hiring pilots on both short and long term contract with various charter airlines who are in turn doing wet leases with other airlines. The relationships can get quite complicated at times. So when it comes to the idea of not being directly employed with an airline, many European pilots are far more used to that type of arrangement. So while the Norwegian deal may seem like it is shockingly underhanded and shady, it is an arrangement that is not that different than many others in Europe. Which may explain that the outrage over Norwegian is not nearly as high in Europe as it is in the States.
Following up with that, I have spoken with several Norwegian 787 pilots and every single one of them is quite happy. They all say they are treated well and the flying is very nice. There has been nothing shady with the contract. The same cannot be said on the 737 side of the operation. One of my neighbours is an A330/A340 captain with SAS and he is going to take an early retirement to go fly the 787 for Norwegian.
Lastly, regarding the EASA ATPL. I just completed the conversion process in July from my FAA certificates. While it may seem daunting, it is quite doable for most average people (I have never been accused of being a rocket scientist and I made it through just fine). The G- registered option with only two exams has gone away. There are no more short cuts and to get an EASA license you will have to do all 14 exams. Experienced pilots are exempt from the requirement to do a formal ground school and as such you can self certify your readiness for the exams. Personally I bought the Bristol Ground School Digital ATPL program and went through that, supplementing it with a question bank. While officially the question bank is not exact like the Gleim books with the FAA, they are VERY close and the vast majority of them end up being the exact same questions you get on the exams. So between the two resources I was able to get the exams passed in four exam sessions. The medical is extensive, but not insurmountable. Actually if you already posses an ICAO first class medical, your initial exam is actually done to renewal standards. I am not in the best of shape and I had zero issues with the medical. Basically if you do not have high blood pressure, have vision correctable to 20/20, and no history of illnesses or medical problems, passing should not be a concern. The UK has the best laid out information for converting the licenses, and at the very least I think they are the best place for doing the exams. But I have heard the Irish authority is easy to work with as well and I used the Danish authorities and found them to be easy to work with too. Many pilots I know in Europe have had their state of license issue changed to Iceland because they are very accommodating and have the lowest fees in EASA. State of license issue does not matter, any EASA license can operate any EASA registered airplane, regardless of country. Some airlines want you to change your license to their own country (easyJet does this), but this is because it makes their paperwork easier when doing the LPC.
Anyway that is a little bit of the view as I see it from the other side of the pond. I am not going to offer any opinions regarding Norwegian with regards to "should they be allowed to operate?" or "are they a threat to the career?" type of questions. But I do know a few guys working for Norwegian on both the 787 and 737 fleets, I do live in Europe, and I have recently done the EASA conversion, so hopefully I can add a little bit of information for those who are interested.