With ETA’s and electronic gates replacing immig officers, stamps will become a thing of the past, all my trips this year to Aus and SIN /Malaysia required no stamps Thailand is heading that way as well can’t come soon enough
It’s free - they charge a fee for “express” service but won’t provide a receipt so go figure I just plan around it but won’t contribute to the slush fund
budget is not the point, it fuels corruption, and creates problems down the line, for example the DLT in Phuket now has a 3 month waiting list for an appointment, because they realized during Covid they could push everyone towards agents and get kickbacks - now we have to drive to Phang Nga to get license renewed same day or pay for an agent to jump rhe queue
Go online to your local embassy and obtain a 3 month visa, which you can extend for 30 days, leave for a neighboring country(s) for a few weeks come back and get a visa exemption 60 days extend for 30 days and go walkabout again one more visa exempt may be possible but no guarantee……good luck