13 hours ago, JimGant said:

For years on this forum we've discussed the "legal" vs "illegal" agent situation. I thought maybe here we'd finally get an established agent (TVC) to admit, online, that, for five figures, they have a solution to your financial shortfall......

Well, it's not TVC but a well known Pattaya agent is happily advertising this......

17 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Well, it's not TVC but a well known Pattaya agent is happily advertising this......

So I will presume what is being suggested here is that, if this is illegal, how come a "reputable agent" can post an advert like this.

As stated on the previous page:

The whole Anti-Corruption mechanism in Thailand at the Organic Act level and Immigration's internal ministerial Announcements is based upon the complaint filed by an injured party.

Add to that Section 143 of Penal Code Accepting Benefit by Member of Government

So until an injured party files a complaint to effectuate an inquiry, the legality yes or no of the agent/IMM modus operandi is moot point.

Edited May 18May 18 by JerryM

13 hours ago, JimGant said:

My point? Is the OP's situation requiring avoiding financials, a situation that is skirting the law via an agent?

I am a member of another forum. It discusses a sport I like. It has strict delineation rules regarding the discussion of doping. If you want to discuss doping, you do it in certain sub-forums. The reason for this is that if these rules did not exist, every discussion descends into a row about doping.

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

Well, it's not TVC but a well known Pattaya agent is happily advertising this......

fyi:
Pattaya agents require you be IN pattaya, attend immigration, go to the bank with their agent to deposit

TVC does not require these things, its all done by mail or pick up if ur in Bangkok

47 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

fyi:
Pattaya agents require you be IN pattaya, attend immigration, go to the bank with their agent to deposit

TVC does not require these things, its all done by mail or pick up if ur in Bangkok

BS regarding attending in person. none of the above apply to my well known agent, and several others. Are you using Pattaya agent?

Edited May 18May 18 by Olmate

8 hours ago, JerryM said:

The above is not true. The Police Order as referenced above does not give the IMM Officer FULL DISCRETION. And nowhere does it reference that directly or indirectly a large fee can be required for the Officer to exercise his/her 'full discretion'.

So where does this say that the officer they are talking to is not an "authorized competent officer?"
It doesn't. Which means any immigration officer can be the one to make the decision. And you really think the bosses (who are even more of an authorized officer) of these offices aren't fully aware of what is going on and taking their cut? There's nothing that says they can't make any decision they want, based on anything they want. It's left purposely vague. I'll give you 3 guesses on why it was left that vague.

Edited May 18May 18 by BrandonJT

Off thread topic post removed.

6 hours ago, Olmate said:

BS regarding attending in person. none of the above apply to my well known agent, and several others. Are you using Pattaya agent?

I wasn't aware that other agents didn't require you to attend in person.

I'm looking to do this via the post so to avoid a trip to Pattaya or Bangkok, as live in the South.

Could you DM me their contact details, or share them here for others?

Thank you

6 minutes ago, BillyBobzTeeth said:

Could you DM me their contact details, or share them here for others?

TVC has been mentioned a few times as well as contact details.

If you live in South then you require an agent that does not require you to attend immigration.

Suggest you deal with agent directly.

You don't need contact details.

Google provides all that

1 hour ago, BillyBobzTeeth said:

I'm looking to do this via the post so to avoid a trip to Pattaya or Bangkok, as live in the South

Maybe you need to state which province in the South, and maybe someone can offer you advice for that province and maybe can provide agent contact details.

3 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Maybe you need to state which province in the South, and maybe someone can offer you advice for that province and maybe can provide agent contact details.

Suggest that won't be useful.

Some provinces do not have agents that can assist with extension.

The OP should state his imm office however at a guess will require agent obtain extension up country.

2 hours ago, BillyBobzTeeth said:

I wasn't aware that other agents didn't require you to attend in person.

I'm looking to do this via the post so to avoid a trip to Pattaya or Bangkok, as live in the South.

Could you DM me their contact details, or share them here for others?

Thank you

fyi:
i also live in the south and use tvc, the costs to travel to pattaya, stay at a hotel min 2 days, offsets the few thousand baht u'd save

Unless someone can post a agent name address in Pattaya that does not require u to be there
i'd say fake news

Edited May 18May 18 by zzzzz

5 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

Unless someone can post a agent name address in Pattaya that does not require u to be there
i'd say fake news

It's not fake news. Do some research.

Granted most of the many agents obtain stamps at Jomtien soi 5 and you need to attend for photo.

Some do not

15 hours ago, BrandonJT said:

I'll give you 3 guesses on why it was left that vague.

Medical Incapacity: When an applicant or their direct dependent is suddenly hospitalized, critically ill, or medically unfit to travel, preventing them from meeting the physical or administrative requirements of their original visa tier.

Ongoing Litigation or Legal Proceedings: If a foreign national must remain in Thailand to act as a vital witness, plaintiff, or defendant in a criminal or civil court case, a "legitimate reason" is recognized to extend their stay despite lacking standard employment or retirement qualifications.

Minor Technical Discrepancies: When a business or individual satisfies the fundamental spirit and financial intent of the law, but a minor, uncorrectable bureaucratic error or legislative oversight outside their control bars them from fulfilling the exact letter of the annexes.

10 hours ago, zzzzz said:

fyi:
i also live in the south and use tvc, the costs to travel to pattaya, stay at a hotel min 2 days, offsets the few thousand baht u'd save

Unless someone can post a agent name address in Pattaya that does not require u to be there
i'd say fake news

Go to ZZZZZ, do you want to speak by phone, Line, email or how to arrange the extension.The agent office visit out of the question or just IO your hesitant about. Perhaps a home visit may be arranged but you need to speak with someone firstly!

On 5/13/2026 at 3:50 PM, BillyBobzTeeth said:

Well, chaps, I'm a little short of the 800k required for a retirement visa, so again I'm thinking about the agent route.

Has anyone done one recently, with the Thai Visa Centre, and if so, how much did it cost?

Thank you for your attention in this matter....try not to get angry at my choice of words

Go to Mark at One Stop in Pattaya - if Carlsberg made visa agents they would make Mark

He really is so good

On 5/17/2026 at 7:08 PM, JimGant said:

Well, yeah. My agent, for 4 figures, did my immigration paperwork, then arranged for me to jump the queue. My financials were in complete order. A completely "above board" visa agent, in this scenario.

Here I'm just curious whether or not an established visa agent -- THAIVISACENTRE (TVC) -- would finally admit, online, that for 5 figures they can make the financial requirement go away -- a situation the OP has.

For years on this forum we've discussed the "legal" vs "illegal" agent situation. I thought maybe here we'd finally get an established agent (TVC) to admit, online, that, for five figures, they have a solution to your financial shortfall......

Anyway, those of us following this forum for years, know, yes, there are agents out there that can get your extension of stay, even if you don't meet the financial requirement.

Why the moderator would say, "Thread is not about legality or otherwise of use of agent" is curious. Of course it's about someone, wondering the legality, or illegality, of getting an extension without the necessary financials -- and potential repercussions of doing so.

Obviously a valid, and important subject, for discussion on this forum. Discussion can be tapered so that forum mods don't subscribe to any illegality. But, for newbies just tuning in, it would be nice to read about the several flavors of visa agents available in Thailand.

It is very obvious you don't require the services of an agent, or if you do you have covered it well to show you don't.

So, the question is, why does it bother you so much, as to whether it is legal or otherwise to use an agent when in a financial shortfall situation?

Or, do I read into your post, a stir just to possibly cause someone a problem?

On 5/15/2026 at 10:48 AM, Pasak110 said:

Thankfully most of those "some's" have disappeared from the forum, with the constant whinging about agents and illegal extensions........

Any extension granted meets the requisite legal requirements otherwise it would not be approved. It's the method by which the legal requirements were arrived at which disturbs many people.

Edited May 19May 19 by Thingamabob

On 5/14/2026 at 7:16 AM, DrJack54 said:

Contact them directly via Line or phone. @ThaiVisaCentre ~16k

Plus 500 Baht for EACH of your 90 Day Reports,So it's 18k.......In TOTAL....

Posts with poor links removed.

Post name of agent is sufficient

SS Thai Visa consultant

https://share.google/DgCNNnjEbsog7xboy

2 hours ago, Surasak said:

So, the question is, why does it bother you so much, as to whether it is legal or otherwise to use an agent when in a financial shortfall situation?

Fair question. But after all these years of pussy footing around this subject on this forum, I remain curious as to the mechanics of how this all works; and thought maybe TVC, since they're openly advertising getting an extension without requisite financials, might just lay it all out here on this forum. But, obviously, they're not stupid -- since they might get an unwelcomed knock on their company door once they possibly explain the part about the bulging brown envelope delivered to the Imm officer. Or not ..... as corruption is a way of life in Thailand, and in most cases, hurts no one -- and actually its skid greasing can improve productivity. Wink, wink, nod, nod is the live-and-let-live equivalent. Fine with me.

So, no, I have no problem with folks using agents for extensions. I'm just curious about:

1. Do you need a bank account, and if so, does the agent temporarily loan" you 800k (and Imm conveniently forgets the 3 month requirement)?

2. It's been reported here that agent extensions have to be registered in another Province. Is that true: sometimes, most times, never? And if true, how does that affect 90 day reporting?

3. Apparently some agents, like TVC, can handle all the particulars by mail, thus you only have to leave your easy chair to go to the post office -- no trip to Imm for anything, including that bloody photo requirement. If this is the case, my two days of wasted time going to Bangkok, to renew my LTR visa, might be much better served by finding a "special" agent here in Chiang Mai.

4. I've read that, once you go down the agent route, it's difficult to subsequently go it alone with extension renewals. Is that true? [Not really a problem, unless (unlikely) the ethics police clamp down on agents.]

Yes, this subject seems to be somewhat taboo on this forum -- for understandable reasons, at least by those who have the ability to understand the overall situation. That some of us, who haven't used five figure agents, are curious about particulars -- shouldn't be construed as condemning those who have.

4 hours ago, Legal Lifeline said:

Go to Mark at One Stop in Pattaya - if Carlsberg made visa agents they would make Mark

He really is so good

they quoted me a princely sum to do mine, 29K Baht+ 7K Baht for drivers license and I own a condo, have a bank acct with 2M Baht+ in it - I am looking for the 7-14K baht version…..

12 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Yes, this subject seems to be somewhat taboo on this forum -- for understandable reasons, at least by those who have the ability to understand the overall situation.

Your post is a wind up

The questions you posted have been answered many times in this forum.

I along with others have answered all those questions over and over.

On 5/13/2026 at 9:50 PM, BillyBobzTeeth said:

Well, chaps, I'm a little short of the 800k required for a retirement visa, so again I'm thinking about the agent route.

Has anyone done one recently, with the Thai Visa Centre, and if so, how much did it cost?

Thank you for your attention in this matter....try not to get angry at my choice of words

The agent I use costs 12,000 Baht. They take care of everything for me.

Trolling post removed

On 5/17/2026 at 10:44 AM, sqwakvfr said:

I have heard this term before by an agent: "No financials retirement visa". In CNX I contacted an agent for this service to see what the market rate was and she quoted 38,000 baht for a first timer. I passed.

The less you put in the more you have to pay.

32 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

The less you put in the more you have to pay.

Meaning what.

The agent either covers the 800k or not.

You either put up the 800k and use agent for hand holding or DIY

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Your post is a wind up

The questions you posted have been answered many times in this forum.

I along with others have answered all those questions over and over.

I don't see his post as a windup.

Those of us who don't use agents are interested how agents navigate their way to get someone extension who doesn't have the finances themselves. The queries he posts are ones I have also.

I may want/need to use an agent in the future, but to do so I want to know more about how it all works.

So no, I don't see his post(s) as a windup but someone who is curious and would like to know more.

36 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Meaning what.

The agent either covers the 800k or not.

You either put up the 800k and use agent for hand holding or DIY

You answered your own question. My point is that if the agent covers all the financial requirements for the applicant, the applicant will have to pay more than he would if the agent was merely providing the applicant with a hand holding service.

Intellegisne ?