First, you can't get a visa for longer than a year.
Second, I don't know what you would need to do to set up an NGO. I do know that even volunteers are supposed to have work permits.
If you start a business, the majority ownership must be Thai, and you'll need a lawyer to set it all up. The norm used to be some dummy agents who were paid a small annual fee to be 'owners' but had no real access to the business. I believe now the Thai owners must have full access to all the business's bank accounts and there are other regulations changes.
The real issue is that no matter what you set up, the law has been changing rapidly. Everything is pretty much at the whim of the immigration official. I've heard that 'O' visas have become much harder to get.
Visas aren't granted on a 'if you meet these requirements you will get a visa' basis. People apply for two-month tourist visas, and get only one month. People get denied for no reason at all. In some consulates, no two-month visas are issued no matter what, others are generous, or used to be generous, with the 'O' visas (Hull, for instance).
People who are there are having trouble sorting it all out.
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