Met a man here last year who requested a non 0 for retirement in Laos and he was told they wanted to see the 800,000baht in a Thai bank account. They finally gave him a double tourist visa, no Thai bank account and refused to open one. This was Feb. 2010 so maybe different now.

You are saying a friend tried to obtain a single entry non immigrant O visa for retirement in Thailand reasons from the Thai Consulate in Laos and that the Consulate wanted him to show proof he was qualified with 800k in a bank account paperwork.

"No account and refused to open one"? Sounds as if he had no intent to retire here.