Pay for the 30-day extension and claim the 1900 baht fee back from your airline. It should be no issue as it is due to them that you need it. Hope you enjoy your unexpected extra time.
no, not at all. I spend spring and summer at my summer home in France and the colder months in Asia. India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. I just happened to visit Thailand more than normal as friends were vacationing there. I have never over stayed, never done a boarder bounce, only once done a 30 day extension and rarely take the full 30-days allowed on exempt. If any country should be worried that I am trying to live there, it is India as I have already spent a total of five and a half years there. I am retired, so have the freedom to travel. I think that I was just unlucky, as my American friend who I was travelling with also arrived on 4th visa exempt and got through without issue. As is frequently mentioned, it is totally at the discretion of the immigration officer whether you get in or not.
, half the year in Thailand and the other half (European spring and summer) in Aveyron, South West France. I rent condos in Thailand but own the farmhouse in France. It is a compromise that works well for me.