yea Pattaya is the hardest most awkward immigration centre in all of Thailand. They have backhander deals with the visa agents. I would suggest either have a little holiday to Phuket or use an agent, in the future.
is that for your tourist visa, I take it? Tourist visa applications can be done online now for many countries. Do you have a Thai embassy in Costa Rica and do you know what the process is for there? If you do have a Thai embassy in Costa Rica, go to their website and look if the process can be done online.
you will need a tourist visa and a Thailand pass. You can go to the Thailand embassy website and follows links to get both yourself. It’s an easy process.