okay, you could indeed go from a tourist visa to a 90 day Non-O and then to yearly extension of stay at the Chonburi immigration office without having to bank 400K baht.
Seeing as you're a brit it would take you applying by mail to the UK consulate here in Bangkok and getting a notarized paper from them stating you get over 40K baht a month in pension or income. Unfortunately for you, the brit consulate DOES require people submit proof of their income before they write the letter.
As
@St***
, said once you apply for the Non-O at the immigration office it would go under consideration for 2 weeks and then you'd go back and get it inked into your passport along with a new 90 day stamp. Then when there are 30 days or less left on that stamp you'd go back to the immigration office (with another letter of income from your consulate) and apply for a yearly extension of stay