If one was coming to thailand with the idea of looking for a job in his field or teaching, but also leaving the options open, if no job can be found, of just having a vacation for 6 months say, what would be a good visa to come in on that would be the easiest and cheapest ?

If you just fly in from Canada you get the 30 day visa, thats not very long.

Thanks

A tourist visa would fit this purpose of a visit to Thailand. You can apply for a work permit after having arrived with a tourist visa, then you will have to go to a neighbouring country for a non-B visa to be able to pick up the work permit once it is ready.

Get a mulyiply entry tourist visa good for 2 entries and that will give you 6 months with 2 extensions from immigration and a border run to activate second visa.

thanks !