It's not a stupid comment. You just don't understand the culture here. Over time, you'll learn. And NO...no one has a way around this. Call every hotline you want...they will all tell you to go back to Pattaya.
They instructed you to come back to their office in Pattaya...and you are surprised that doing the opposite of their instruction is not allowed? You do know you aren't in a Western country don't you? Rebellious behavior is not really encouraged or protected here. LOL
I noticed that the reports of getting hassled are being posted ever since the official announcement to "re-open" in Oct. My guess is those of us who went prior to that were lucky, because maybe afterwards BOI was handed down a directive to discourage people from extending.