Do I need a tourist visa to enter Thailand or can I just wait 30 days?

METV from Thai Consulate in the Home Country

Where do I get an METV from

Google immigration office koh samui there's a map

I would stay sit tight and wait, do not fly to Thailand and try to get a Tourist Visa on Arrival because you can not get this non existing visa. Get a Tourist Visa from the Thai Embassy or Consulate in the country where you are, come to Thailand and you have 60 days to explore and enjoy Thailand. Closest Immigration is as said Koh Samui where you can apply once for a 30 day Extension of Stay. If you find a job your Employer can apply for the Work Permit at Ministry of Labor and with papers from that Ministry you can leave the country to visit a Consulate or Embassy in neighbor country to apply for a new Non Immigrant B visa.

Emily, I don't blame you for wanting an easy pace to study your options. But it is naive thinking when coming to Thailand. Coming here and getting a job is a bit tough and drawn out due to several things... One being the long list of jobs we cannot hold even if offered. If you want to take a real look you should plan on a METV - multi-entry tourist visa that allows a series of 60 days stays (details later). This visa will allow you to stay up to 9 months in and out of Thailand and neighbor countries. You can use this time to make contacts with various potential employers such as international hotels, NGOs, Schools, etc. Bottom line you should have money to support yourself for 4-5-6 months. If hard working and very lucky you may find a job. Then the B Visa and Work Permit process comes into play which can be relatively straight forward but time and money consuming. Or it can become drawn out and burn money. I suggest come supporting yourself for as long as possible without a job - your first job of many months will be to find a legal job and it will be a tough one. Many hostels give jobs to young Westerners but the pay is low and they string out the unfilled promise of a B visa and Work Permit for 6 to 9 months - making it illegal as you get a string of tourist visas.

As for working here best wait for the best to wake up.

Extend that for 30 days

1 month stamp when you get here mabye you should have got 60 days before you got here . go to myanamar for 30 days more