Depends on the province...

For example, I've been paying my pension into my Thai account for 3 years and now that I want to switch to retirement visa based on monthly income, my local immigration office won't accept bank statements, they insist on a proof of income certificate from the British Embassy... British embassy only do tea parties, so this certificate is unobtainable... Hence I need an agent...

You are supposed to to have proof of income, into a thai account, for 12 months, before it can be used for conversions or extensions. Weather or not it will be accepted, depends on the immigration officer

It's a savings account, but functions as current account

Ask your landlord if they filed a TM30, when you arrived. If they did, you can get a Certificate of residence from immigration

Nobedness...

Lets relax the visa exemption to allow easy entry for less desirable counties...

Oh we're getting more nobeds...

I know, lets give the people from the old list a hard time...

The extension is added on from the expiration date, but most immigration offices will only allow you to extend, upto 14 days before...

@L**

I did it on visa exempt entry, but there's some risk, because it can take upto 8 weeks.

Be safer and faster to do direct at VFS global. Mine took 2 weeks processing then a weeks postage using an agent. The agents are basically doing the leg work, submitting and collecting from VFS global

If in Bangkok do it yourself at VFS global. Takes 2 visits, 1 to send and 1 to collect.

If not in Bangkok, or don't want to travel, use an agent like "Mark's Sending Machine" (search on Facebook), Thai Visa Express, or Key Visa

Just did mine, took 3 weeks door to door

First month... Expect that to go up

I've been here 10 years now, 5 years on married visas and 5 years on an elite visa. Planning to switch to retirement.

Past 3 years transfering my monthly pension payments into my Thai account, same day every month. So I have 3 years bank statements and pension statements, but the local immigration insist on a Proof of income certificate from the British Embassy...

Since the British Embassy don't provide it, I'm forced to use an agent... Very frustrating. My Swedish, German and Irish friends, just pop to their embassies and get a certificate, easy peasy.

If you are going to an embassy to get a tourist visa, why not get a non-o single entry retirement visa instead? Then you just need to do an extension here.