That's a good question, references I guess. I'm on the other side of the fence as a gym owner. We are plagued with dodgy customers trying to extract our documents without paying. So we don't like to show them our licenses etc before they pay coz they can be cloned. We also have to stamp our documents to avoid cloning.
But I guess customers are worried about scams too. Fair point
I will help you out mate ... try Faraz at The Wall in chiang mai. We are stacked and I understand they are a touch cheaper than us. Most muay thai gyms in CM will quote 2 or 3 x what we charge
if thats straight from an immigration officer then I guess it might happen.
I wonder if it's been handed to him by official channels or he's just decided by himself. Immigration always have that caveat behind then that the officers decision is final. That's why each time you go ot often different requirements