What are the legal risks for visa holders using agents for Thai visas obtained through unofficial means?

I think we need to make a delineation between an "agent" and what I call a "shepherd"

-Handing your passport to someone so that the passport goes to get a visa or an extension inked into it without you showing up is an agent :O

-Being driven to a province you don't live in, opening a bank account, having someone put 800K baht in it, getting the bank letter, then being taken to the immigration office to get a 90day Non-O visa issued is an agent. :O

Having someone HELP you get your paperwork together, make the correct copies, go with you to the bank to get the bank letter, update your bank book, go with you to the immigration office wait with you, get you the correct queue number in the correct section, etc is a "shepherd" <- (like a person to watches over sheep) because they "shepherd" you thru the process. :P

People use agents because they don't meet the requirements NOT because they don't have the ability to do it on their own. IF you meet the requirements for the visa/extension you're getting you don't need an agent,

BUT

you might want to use a "shepherd" to make the process easier for you

Just out of curiosity, who do you call “an agent”? 😀 Like any middleman who helps ppl to get visa or what are they 🙃)))

Easily done in Udon thani. Just do it myself

You are responsible if asked about back door visa, agent will deny , he is only the middleman, agree with Tod, difficult to break chain if started

Its not hard to break away. Bullshit. They are there for a service if you dont want all the agro of the paperwork and masses of people waiting at immigration. Tnhey do a good job. There are some dodgey ones out there. But most ar all good. Plus they speak there native tongue. Which helps for everything instead of questioning the person who wants the visa.

Just so everyone is clear, IF you hand your passport, two photos and a pile of money to someone and it comes back with an extension in it from a province you don't live in you got that visa extension under the table by the back door, period end of story.

Now that is not saying the extension isn't valid or isn't signed by actual immigration offices in that province, only that you got the extension without meeting the requirements and if push comes to shove you would be the one charged with having an extension in their passport gotten by illegal means.

People do it all the time, but I would say IF you have a way to legally meet the requirements and get your own visa/extension do it yourself.

Once you use an agency/agent, every immigration office that looks at the stamp will know how you got it and you'll be tied to using that agency from then on. Even if you meet the requirements and want to get your own extension the next year it's really REALLY hard to break away and do it on your own.

yes all of those

DONT EVEN TALK ABOUT IT

Which visa you have that you just extend?

The agents just pay money to people on the inside to get things done. There is nothing that you have to worry about. It happens all over the world.

What are the consequences for the agents?