Do you know some of the differences? I believe if you apply for Non O while in Thailand the health insurance is not a requirement. But the OA requires health insurance and must be applied for outside of Thailand.
Thanks everyone for the input. The Thai Embassy said by email that I need one year of insurance. It's a mute point now since I couldn't get the criminal background check completed in time in BKK (must go in person unless you use an agent, and I'm in CM).
Yes renewals are much cheaper. $2000 USD to start seems a bit steep. Is that mainly to get the Thai bank account and/or bypass the 800,000 required deposit?