Depends on immig office I suspect, in Phuket it’s a big problem and a number of friends are in that conundrum, they want us to use agents easier and more lucrative for them.
once you have used an agent difficult to renew yourself without leaving the country - immig know when initial application was approved through an agent as they use an obscure immig office it’s a hamster wheel impossible to get off
One thing marginally worse than bar room lawyers are bar room accountants - if in doubt seek professional advice - the tax issue is very real - understand it……..
you won’t find anyone with PR experience on this site , totally different topic as Brendan has tried to articulate - you need to have worked here, and learned the language (Thai) for starters
and it fuels corruption - in Phuket now they have created a 3 month wait for an appointment to “encourage” use of agents…….we went to Phang Nga and got same day…….