I just wanted to report back for David (the O/P) he went with his thai g/f and child to the local Amphur and was able to get them to issue the parental rights decree on the spot (only needed two witnesses) because the child was old enough to do it by that method
SO
now he has legal parental rights and CAN use the fact he's the father of a thai child as a reason to get the yearly extension from his Non-O visa.
Because he is using an out of the way immigration office they will go next week in person, file the TM30 (take the fine if there is one) AND at that time talk to them about his upcoming yearly extension, get the list of required documents, photos, bank letter, copies etc so that when he does go back #1 they KNOW who he is because he was already there once filing the TM30, and he's got his sh*t sorted so he can pull it off in one go round.
Good luck to
@เดวิด *******
in their endeavor and congrats on getting the parental rights decree.