Sorry , I defer to you wider knowledge of Thailand, its culture and immigration laws. I will stick to my experience over 47 years of visiting, since 1978 , and past 7 years of retirement with my non Thai wife and our two rescue dogs who probably talk more sense than you - enjoy your day 🐶🐶
Best way for average Joe to keep his nose clean is obtain correct visa, contributing to the Isaac economy, I get….but we don’t pay taxes, and income earned remains under the radar - tourists contribute huge amounts to the Thai economy as they spend on accom, transport and restaurants….average Joe doesnt, he might pay rent for a room and motorbike……
they welcome tourists with open arms, but a tourist stays for a few weeks and goes home to their place of work and earns enough for their next adventure……….a tourist doesn’t plot up here for 6 months doing border runs and generally abusing the system - try pulling that stunt in Singapore , or Hong Kong etc
When is a tourist not a tourist, usually after 4-5 weeks……who gets that much annual leave if they have a job……if they don’t they are earning some kind of income in Thailand - go figure where the problem is - disaster for Isaan though
that’s sound advice, once you get caught up with agents very challenging to extricate yourself , and cost soon mounts up - my wife and and set off on this journey 7 years ago, and annual trips to immig are an adventure and part of living here, and we have no shortage of time on our hands…..good luck
Airline might ask, which could create a problem with checkin…..I never travelled here without proof of onward travel, that said,only occasionally asked….