Should I apply for my long-term visa before traveling to Thailand?

The easiest route is: 1. Apply for a non-O visa based on retirement for 90 days from the Thai Embassy in your country. 2. Enter Thailand ensuring immigration stamp you in with the visa. 3. Go to immigration and get a list of requirements to extend your stay and a residence permit. 4. Open a Thai bank account. 5. Deposit 800,000 baht in the account within the first three weeks of arrival. 6. Wait two months until your money has been in the account for two months and return to immigration with all the documents on their list. Fill out one a4 form (easy), a map of where you live (copied from Google), some passport photos, lots of photocopies, pay 1,900 baht and you are good for another year.

Ignore Bill's advice or you will regret it when you get here. It used to be possible a year or two ago to come without a visa, but now you will have massive problems. Listen to the advice given by the moderators (Brandon) and people like Lynette.