A follow up question - if I am in Thailand on a visa exempt status - can I leave the country - say a trip for a week to Laos or Cambodia - can I return? Would I simply get another visa exempt status when I return or would I have to do something else? Thanks again
I appreciate everyone's help and thoughts - to clarify and be a bit more specific (cuz it sounds complicated - I'd like to have the option to stay up to 120 days and also be able to leave Thailand during that time to visit other nearby countries but return to my "base" in Chiang Mai - thus a multi- entry visa? is part of the equation.