I am lucky enough to have a Thai bank account but I only use it for paying rent, phone, internet and electric bills. Those who have lived here long term without a bank account, what do you do to pay such bills?

Us an ED visa. It is also a good visa for a one year stay.

I prepared my printed bank statement a few days ahead. This was fine but they did ask that I log into online banking and show them the current balance in person.

I had a good experience using the ED visa. If you want to stay for a year then learning some Thai language is useful. The school gave plenty of help with visa, renewals and reminder about 90 reports. They provided paperwork which let me open a bank account with no problems. Even if you want to travel around online classes were an option. You need to pay for re-entry permits but this is not too expensive.

I saw one video where a lawyer suggested that owning and renting multiple condos could be a problem. You might then be considered to be working as a property manager even if you own the properties. One is OK for sure.

ED Visa can be a good choice if you want to do Thai language classes.

Photocopy of stamp in passport and a receipt from the front desk of the hotel.

I used a paper reciept from the hotel front desk.

You can also show an address in your home country as your permanant address. This might appear on your bank statement for example.

You use the address of the hotel where you are staying in the country you apply in. A receipt from the front desk or a screen shot of your online booking is the proof.