Ed visas are traps. Say for example, you do Ed visa for 2 years. Go home and try to come back on tourist visa or visa exemption. They may blacklist you and say clearly you have been living and working in Thailand. They can refuse entry.
I done the student visas already, it's a dead end of you want to live here forever. Truly, the only way is to legally to it is open a business, work, or get married.