I feel like what I did at every step was defensible, but somehow the aggregate of these mistakes is disproportionately high...

Bought a motorbike from a dealer. They told me the greenbook would come in the mail. This being Thailand I didn't think twice until the months and months had gone by... I contacted the dealer and they said they were waiting for me to provide them with a certificate of residency.

I was getting ready to move and figured that it made more sense to move and then do the whole process at my new address. So I moved to a little village way north called Chiang Khon. Rented a house and waited a week or so for the landlady to file the TM30... she insisted she knew what to do... I waited... now its a month later before she admits she has no idea what I am talking about. So I figure it out and we get that submitted. In retrospect I guess the TM30 might not be required for the certificate of residence but....

I finally go to immigration and had a terrible experience. Like something from a weird twilight zone episode or something.

The guy behind the counter had no english and could only halfway parse translations using google. He clearly doesn't want to deal with me. He tells me I need to go to Phuket where my visa is from to get a residency certificate. I say that doesn't make sense because that isn't where I am a resident. He asks to look at my passport again and this time he looks for my stamp and he can't find it. Let me repeat that- the guy from immigration didn't know how to find the stamp in my passport. He starts to get all worked up about this and decides I might not have a visa. He starts calling over other people. Pretty soon I am surrounded by agitated Thai's concerned that I am in the country without permission. I was honestly getting ready for the police to show up when a super visor asked to see my passport, saw the stamp, told everyone to calm down, and sent me on my way. I left in a hurry.

I my passport got wet and I had to jump through many weeks worth of hoops to get a replacement and by that time had moved again. Finally, get the new one, a copy of the lease, and I go to the Chiang Rai immigration office where I was told (much more believably so) that you need to get the residency certificate from the province that issued you visa.

Can anyone confirm this is true? And if so, is it something I Can work around? I don't want to pay high season airfare- but want to get the greenbook sorted out.