What is the best visa option for a year-long stay in Thailand for a couple looking to explore Southeast Asia?

Thank you for your contribution. I hope OP could get enough advice to dig a bit more and shape her rough plan.

Please contact one of the moderators to re-open this post for a specific reason.

Indo, Vietnam, Phils, Cambodia are all 30 day stays

I enjoyed south East Asia before covid .

I took the multiple entry tourist visa : this is the right visa for that

My advice , wait til summer time or end of the year to start it

We are in transitioning months where they are slowly removing covid conditions : pcr test , Thailand pass, covid insurance …

Borders are opened in thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore without quarantine for vaccinated people.

Education visa. Private lessons with a school that allows flexibility. I did this in Chiang Mai twice.

EliteVisa is your only valid option

I do not recommend the Special Tourist Visa(STV) as it is impossible to change into any other visa while in Thailand. Yes, it has a maximum validity of 9 months but after that ? What if you like to stay longer, find a job and need a working permit ? I have been trapped with this visa and until land borders open up and going out the country and back is easy, the Covid extension helps but it's a roulette, source of much anxiety. And buy a printer-photocopier, you will make a lot of copies.

Is the Special Tourist Visa still available?

"Visa Fishing" 😂..I love it

I'll let this post on (even though it's really close to the line of "visa fishing" <- looking for any way to stay 😕

A year, where you can come in and out at will I dunno, first step would probably be to get a 6 month Multi-Entry Tourist Visa. That would let you come in and out an unlimited number of times during the 6 month validity. Each entry you'd get stamped in for 60 days (and you could extend that by 30 more at the immigration office for 1900baht)

That'd get you almost 9 months in country bouncing out and back every 2 months.

AND

It'd give you time to look for a longer term solution, to see how the nearby countries opening up are as far as requirements etc.