Can I travel to Thailand without a visa and later apply for a retirement visa?

I thought you could get an in country 90 day non o with proof of outside funds.

The reason I say get the initial Non-O visa in your country BEFORE you wing your way here is:

you can show proof of funds in your bank in your country to get that visa issued.

Then you're comin' in on a Non-O visa which is better than free stamp entry for trying to get a bank account opened here

AND

You have about a month to get an account open and get the 800K transferred in so it can season the 2 months required before you apply for a year extension

Just to clarify, the non-O IS the retirement visa. That's the only visa you'd be applying for. After that it's extensions, not visas.

I would say as recent as a year ago, that'd be a good plan

BUT

with the recent (last 6 months) crack down on 'ghost bank accounts' we've seen bank after bank refusing to open an account for someone here "free stamp" (visa exempt) entry. Not to mention you need to get the account open, the 800K transferred in and THEN you can apply for the in country 90 day Non-O visa

I'd say a far better plan would be you get the initial 90 day Non-O visa in your country online thru the thai consulate there BEFORE you wing your way here. That way you're comin' in on a 90 day Non-O visa, and it'll be a lot easier to try to get a bank account open with that visa type/category then it will on a free stamp entry.

Get the Non-O visa before you come here, get here, get 90 days, get a bank account open, get the 800K baht transferred in, wait for it to season 2 months and then apply for the year extension at the immigration office in the area where you live in thailand.

Best of luck with the process.