I stand corrected.

Vientiane is easy. See the thread I started on this for details.

Yes. Best practice is to get a Multi-entry tourist visa if you plan to make frequent trips in a calendar year. Thailand is cracking down on use of the tourist visa for multiple trips in a calendar year. It's a lot less hassle anyway.

I've taken my debit card to a Thai bank and had them do the transfer, but you will have to pay the conversion fee when you do this (good for large amounts) At the ATM I always choose "do not convert" and my bank refunds me for the ATM fee. I just setup Wise to transfer a large amount for my Non-O funds, the fee was USD $115. It just went through, so I'm not sure yet if my bank will refund any of those fees. Took three days BTW.

(Under rules for a US citizen) I believe the METV is the best visa under your circumstances. It allows a total of 180 in Thailand per calendar year, is easy to obtain, and only requires you to extend for periods longer than 60 continuous days. You do have to make exits of a reasonable time period between visits (subjective) - but I have found it to be the least amount of hassle. Must be obtained from outside of Thailand.