Just hire a broker to do everything for u pay a little money and save all the aggravations ... or u will waste at least a whole day running around doing crap ...
No time 2 be sad ... he just got his mom to Thailand... paid a thai visa person to do it ... they did all the paper work and leg work for him and his mom ... didn't cost much ... go that route and save time and frustration ....
Come and look at how many skyscrapers in BKK how many BMW and Benz there are in BKK which cost 3X of that from USA prices ... your $5,000 won't even buy a nice car ...
As you can see there are way too many lowlife farang in Thailand... stay away from expats community, they will scam you more than locals ...
learn to respect everything and everyone... there's racism in every country but Thais will treat you as you treat them , no matter what color is your skin , but don't cross them , Thais will gang up on you and rid you of this earth ...