Why, LA? Some of us don't fit in the box that Immigration have told us to use. In my case, I qualify for an extension based on the retirement criteria because of my age, but am not able to stick ฿800,000 in a Thai bank. But, I live in a house that I purchased in my wife's name that's worth over ฿7,000,000 as I'm sure many others here have probably done. Unfortunately the stocks that I own have gone from $20 per share to almost nothing and my wife just couldn't quit spending. I know, it my fault for letting her, but...
Anyway my point is that I pay only for the HOA village fees, ฿1,800 per month, electricity and water to live here (not including the food purchases, transportation, etc.). I've enough from Uncle Sam to live on, but I have debts in the US so I take my SSA payments there, then send the rest here, but that's usually only ฿59-60,000 every month. I use an agent because it gives me more flexibility and there is far less hassle or time involved and they're not wasting my time nor theirs, and in the end I think it's better to use one.