It’s your choice, but if you’re passed 50 years and have income min £ 1500, you could just apply for a 90 days Non O visa. Then you’re excused from any onward ticket requirement, it’s cheaper in total than to apply for a tourist visa and do an extension and you don’t have to use (waste) time at the immigration in Thailand.
Agree, it’s quite strict now. People get denied even with a Non O visa unless they do the one year extension of stay which definitely needs a bank account first.
Ok, when I applied for a Non O recently I just filled in a flight number, not e-ticket number. Flight numbers are easy to find if you make itinerary. I just gave a number to a Thai person as I stayed private. If you’re going to stay in a hotel, just give the hotel number. The system never asked for my own Thai number.