What are you correct about? You are talking about Non O and I'm talking about Non OA. We are both not wrong. I even mentioned to check with the Thai Embassy. I am answering the OP's concern about opening a bank account to season the money. With the Non OA he doesn't need to. No where did I say he cannot apply for the Non O. Only you said it.
that it's confusing. I'm also on Non OA. Under the Thai Embassy site, there is a list of all the pre approved insurance companies. Nothing is sketchy. If you've not done it then you probably can't give the correct advice.
No it's not. I'm letting them know to apply for the non OA instead of the non O so they do not need to season 800k each in a Thai bank that makes 0 interest. It's an alternative that no one has mentioned here. Also the insurance to apply is only about 25k baht or less for a year.
I'm sure they can check with the embassy and decide the best route. It's an alternative not a confusion.
You can apply for the Non OA (not Non O) retirement visa in your home country and that allows you to use the balance in your country's bank as proof of funds (not Thai bank). Once you have that visa, come to Thailand and then open the bank account with the long term visa and no worries of time frame. Check with the Thai Embassy in the US for the requirements. It will give you 1+1 year stay. You have plenty of time to get yourself sorted on this Visa route.