Hey im going to visit my gf of 3 years in chonburi next year. I was planning on taking fall semester off of my sophomore / junior year of college. My plan was get a 60 day tourist visa along with a one way ticket. My plan is to stay from august to january because I havent been to TH in 3 years and i havent seen my gf in a while. My girlfriend told me that her family cud take me to cambodia or laos for visa runs to extend my visa. My gf family is pretty wealthy and has lots of business connections so i was assuming this information was somewhat correct. does anyone know if its true? Also if i decided to take a thai class at a university or at AUA in pattaya would i beable to do that with just a tourist visa? Another idea i had is would it beable to upgrade from tourist to student visa during a stay in thailand? Also im 19 and i speak thai if that helps at all.

I would get a triple entry tourist visa just prior to coming to Thailand. If used correctly that would give you almost 270 days with two border runs and three 30 day extension in Thailand, so it would cover your entire trip without having to go to a consulate in Laos to get another visa ( would require at least 1 overnight in Laos). You can study on a tourist visa and by doing this it would not lock you in to a particular school with an ED visa . You could apply for the ED visa when you find a school that you like. The initial cost would be 2000 baht more, 2 additional entries, but might save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Suspect Consulate may require an onward or return ticket to issue you the visa however. It is normally cost effective to buy round trip if returning. You can not extend a visa with border runs - you would only get 15 day visa exempt entry by land unless you have a 2 or 3 entry tourist visa to start with - which would provide a new 60 day stay.