What should I do if immigration officers are uninformed about the current visa rules in Thailand?

In the end it’s up to the immigration officer in the day, let foreigners in or not. I think you are lucky to have got in and out so many times

For an immigration officer to conclude that a day tripper is abusing the visa exemption scheme is quite ridiculous, especially since you probably have residency in Laos. At least if they deny entry, all you got to do is just turn around and go back home.

Anyway, a bit strange that he still referred to the 2 times rule, even though your wife managed to give him a reality check. Also a bit strange that they are strict about this against people who they clearly understand are not just looking to abuse the visa exemption scheme to get long-term stays in Thailand. I think you probably were very unlucky with the immigration officer you met that particular day.

It is always up to the Immigration Officer. Lucky that your wife was there to assist you. While the 2 x per year is o longer and in theory there is no limit to the number of entrys, the Visa Exempt stamp is only for tourists. As you have ha Thai wife and are in Thailand making regular weekend trips, it would be reasonable for the Immigration Officer to decide that you are no longer a tourist and deny you entry into Thailand. To enjoy regulular safe entry you need to get a long teerm visa appropriate to the reason for your stays.

Even though the 2 land entries in a calendar year rule was rescinded when they went from 30 days to 60 days, keep in mind that while there is no posted limit on visa exempt entries by land doesn't mean they are unlimited 😮

At some point I would wager they're gonna NOT let you in, even if all you're doing is shopping for a day and leaving 😕

The Thai Consulate in Vientiane will sell you a 6 month METV <- multi-entry tourist visa, and that will let you enter/exit thailand an unlimited number of times during the 6 months it's valid

That's the only sure fire way to make sure you can cross when you want to for at least the 6 months the visa is valid for.

Entry on a visa exempt stamp is always at the discretion of the issuing officer, so you get one that doesn't wanna let you in and you're not gonna get in 🙁