Warning bells went off in my head when i read the costs involved.. then realised you were using an agent.. then the bells got louder.. you should be able to do most of this yourself with a little guidance.. and at minimal cost.. why not consider a border bounce and subsequent extension of your stamp by 30-days.. which would give you another 60-days to get all your documents sorted out and get married.. if you're getting married in Thailand it will negate the need to have the marriage certificate translated into Thai.. thereby expediting the married visa process.. I'm sure the knowledge base here can assist in explaining the process and pitfalls to avoid.. I've recently completed my own application for a married visa and the only fees i had to pay were to Immigration.. it sounds to me like you are being conned somewhere.. buyer beware!

Interesting conversation.. since I'm going to DLT in CM myself next week for my driving 'test' (lol) in order to get my Thai driving & motorcycle licenses.. so will know first hand what CM grants to first time license holders

The only time I've used an agent was for this very exercise.. they got my overseas marriage certificate authenticated by the Embassy of issuing country and then got a translation done and duly stamped by the MOFA in Thailand.. whole process took around 2-weeks.. and they provided a translation of my passport (in case of need) at no extra cost.. so consider the fee of around 5,000 bht money well spent.. hassle free and done right!

@Will ***********

I have recently had to register my marriage (Farang with Thai wife) at our local Amphur in Chiang Mai.. they did not insist upon translation of my passport into Thai.. but they did want our marriage certificate translated from English into Thai.. with the necessary overseas Embassy and Thai stamps on it.. we decided to use an agent to achieve this in order to expedite the process.. and to avoid having to travel to Bangkok ourselves.. and everything was completed within a couple of weeks.. the fee of around 5.5k bht they charged included a translation of my passport.. so i now have that in case of need as well.. although i'm not a fan of using agents for immigration matters as a rule.. i'd recommend others consider using an agent in this situation.. money well spent for me!

@Robert **********

Yes, i went there the first working day after flying into CM

I went to CM Immigration recently.. with the same dilemma after returning from an overseas trip.. they told me that it WAS necessary to file a new TM30 even though i was returning to the same address after only a 2-week break.. though they did not complete any new forms or take any payment.. they simply updated the computer and tippex/ed out the date on my existing acknowledgement slip.. then wrote the new date on it.. was in the office (aka cabin in rear car park) all of 5 minutes!

Bangkok bank in Chiang Mai allowed me to open a bank account whilst i was on a 30-day extension of my visa-exempt stamp.. but was subject to providing a 'permission letter' from immigration.. which effectively confirmed my residence.. though strangely​ the first branch i tried insisted you had 30-days unexpired on your passport stamp.. but was 2nd time lucky!

When we went to the local Amphur (staying in CM) to register as a 'resident' in the district.. they indicated that they would need to retain the original translated and stamped marriage certificate that we presented.. having used an agent and incurred significant expense to obtain this document i was not happy of course.. and offered them a copy i had prepared in advance for their purposes.. they initially refused this and insisted upon keeping the original.. stating i could 'borrow' back my document if the need should arise to file it elsewhere.. ludicrous imo.. so i asked them to indemnify me for the cost of engaging an agent to provide me with a duplicate in the event that they mislay (aka lose) my document and cannot return it upon making such a request.. in short i kicked up a huge fuss surrounding the cost and the fact that i needed it to apply for my Non-Immigrant O-Visa.. as well as to open a bank account.. and also to get my wife a visa to visit my home country.. the latter was poetic license of course.. and they finally caved in and accepted a colour photocopy attested with our signatures.. i was not going to leave there without it.. or a financial guarantee to replace it.. and i think they understood that in the end!

My own experience of opening a bank account in CM recently, suggests that only Bangkok Bank will offer you àn account if you are a foreigner, every other bank told me it was no longer possible!

@Andrew **********

Just had to do this myself and used an agent to expedite the process.. they were very efficient and with hindsight their fees were reasonable.. unfortunately ìm based in CM so of little use to you sorry