Need some advise as the best way to travel to Thailand and stay there for 3-4 months, been reading a lot about visa runs and so on, and is it possible to have this taken care of before leaving to go to Thai. Will be going from USA, Thanks in advance

You should get a tourist visa before traveling from the embassy in DC or one of the consulates in NY, LA or Chicago. You can apply for it in person or by mail.

Or one of the honorary consulates in person. http://www.thaiembassydc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/HCG_Jan15.pdf

A tourist visa will give you a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days at immigration. The best for you would be a 2 entry tourist visa that could give you almost 6 months of total stay.

been reading a lot about visa runs and so on, and is it possible to have this taken care of before leaving to go to Thai.

If you get a two entry tourist visa from the Thai embassy or a consulate in the US, you'll get a 60 day stay on arrival at the airport and you can extend that by 30 days by going to an immigrations office a week or so before the 60 days is up.

When the 30 day extension is about to expire you will need to do a border run, in and out at one of the land borders if OK, to activate your second entry, which will also give you a 60 day stay (that could be extended by another 30 days if needed).

So 60 + 30 would give you a bit less than 3 months + 60 would give you a total of more than your planned 3 or 4 months.

The "use by" date shown on the visa will be 6 months from the day the visa is issued and by which date you will need to make your second entry.

Each time you enter Thailand or get an extension they will put a stamp in your passport telling you how long you can stay in Thailand at that point. So you will need to keep an eye on the visa expiration date and the most recent "must leave by" date you get from immigrations.

Edited April 3, 201511 yr by Suradit69