Come on a tourist visa, pay an agent to do the paperwork for you. Your visa extension will be valid for a year, I think you will need to get the extension (after 3 months) before it becomes valid for a year.
I couldn't speak about the other ASEAN countries... However the 2 year license is valid in USA, for car rental purposes. I didn't try it for accidents or police.
For about 10 years, off and on, they have been saying that all the while I was able to do it... Not only that, you can get a visa while in Thailand.... "days coming to an end" bah hum bug.