Hi Jason, I'm on the 60-day tourist visa which came, out of the box, with the ability to apply for another 30-day extension. Since that time, Thailand's been in a state of emergency due to the COVID situation. As part of that emergency, Immigration offers 60-day "COVID extensions" at the discretion of the immigration officer. I've applied for, and received, three of these COVID extensions and will be trying my luck for a fourth soon.

About the scams: from my experience living in Europe, the scam offers are a lot more obvious than they were out in the developing world. I remember you once mentioned how, in some parts of Africa, it was entirely possible to purchase land, get a title deed to that land, and find out much later on that you weren't the only one who received title to the land due to shenanigans with the courts or the land office! Those were the types of scams I was obliquely referring to in the article -- obliquely because I didn't want to inadvertently offend anyone -- and those are the scams, I think, that would be virtually impossible by common folk* in developed countries due to the institutions.

* Common folk do not include officials inciting insurrection against their state or being suspected of hiding classified nuclear weapons-related material in their garish summer homes... just saying. ;)