OP wrote " I was taken to the side office when going through Thailand immigration. They were asking questions and basically said, get a ED visa or a Tourist visa OR ELSE. "
I can understand people on a short holiday (so that you try to stay there as long as possible) but I really don't understand the difference for people who are based here, that's something really stupid to me
Officers did a bad job but you guys could also leave the country a day earlier or 2. There's a sxxtload of people who got issues cuz they booked the very last day and had problems with the airlines or small health issues. ps: as far as I know there's no fine to pay if you have just a single day of overstay
there was back in the early 2000s. I still remember that at that time I could get a triple entry toursti visa and live in thailand 9months without any hussle
Let me correct myself and say instead that it could be less difficult. I wouldn't use the world easy for your situation, perhaps you can consider to feed up some agents but it'll cost you $$$$ and your entry in the country might still get denied
it's surely better to get in the country with a tourist visa instead of visa exempt. With a tourist visa you can also get in the country by land and everybody knows that there are some checkpoints where is "easier" to get in