Thai Visa Centre (tvc.co.th) is a Bangkok-based visa agency that has been the subject of both a high volume of positive Trustpilot reviews and material allegations on the public record. This page summarises what is in mainstream Thai press reporting and on named third-party platforms, what Thai Visa Centre has published in response, and what we have been unable to independently verify. The article is published as fair comment on a commercial visa-services operator under Section 329(3) of the Thai Criminal Code, in the public interest of Thailand-bound travellers — see our Editorial Standards and right of reply.
TL;DR. Thai Visa Centre operates at
tvc.co.thfrom Bangkok and has a Trustpilot listing with several hundred reviews showing a high average rating. According to Thai Immigration Bureau Chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang in an August 5, 2020 official announcement reported by Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok, two named individuals associated with the company were arrested on charges that included alleged visa forgery and cannabis cultivation. Thai Visa Centre's own response page attvc.co.th/scamdisputes the framing of that reporting and presents its account of the events. Separately, multiple TripAdvisor and Hucksters threads allege Thai Visa Centre is connected to fake Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) sites; the Thai Immigration Bureau warned about TDAC clone sites in March 2026 without naming Thai Visa Centre. We have not independently verified the final disposition of the 2020 criminal proceedings. Read both sides via the linked sources before deciding.
The short answer
Thai Visa Centre is a registered, currently-operating Bangkok visa agency. It has positive customer feedback on Trustpilot and material allegations on TripAdvisor, Hucksters.net, and Quora. The most serious specific claim associated with it — that two named individuals connected to the company were arrested on alleged visa-forgery and cannabis-related charges in August 2020 — was reported by Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok citing a Thai Immigration Bureau announcement on the day of the arrests. Thai Visa Centre's published response disputes the framing of that reporting and states that the visas it issued were genuine. Both sets of statements are on the public record. This article links to each source and lets you read both sides.
What Thai Visa Centre offers
Per their website, TVC operates from Bangkok and provides:
- Retirement (Non-O / Non-OA) visa assistance
- DTV (Destination Thailand Visa) applications and extensions
- LTR (Long-Term Resident) visa support
- Visa extensions and re-entry permits
- Work permits
- 90-day reporting assistance
The listed Bangkok office is at The Pretium Bangna, 91/11 Moo 15, Bangna-Trat Road, Bang Kaeo, Bang Phli District, Bangkok 10540. Contact is via LINE and [email protected]. Pricing for the DTV visa service is published on tvc.co.th/dtv at THB 9,400–41,100 depending on package, on top of the 10,000 THB Thai government DTV fee.
These details are taken from TVC's own published materials.
Customer feedback — verified sources
There are two distinct, publicly-readable feedback patterns, and they conflict.
Positive: Trustpilot
TVC's Trustpilot page shows a 5-star average across several hundred reviews as of May 2026. The reviews are written in English by named accounts, describe specific services (DTV, retirement, extension), and use the kind of detail that is hard to fully fake (immigration office wait times, named staff, document edge cases). Trustpilot's own moderation has been involved — TVC says, and Trustpilot reportedly confirmed, that legitimate reviews were temporarily removed during a coordinated reporting attack and later restored.
Negative: TripAdvisor, Hucksters, Quora threads
Multiple TripAdvisor threads since 2024 contain warnings against TVC. Key examples (all public):
- "SCAM WARNING Thai Visa Centre is a FAKE company in Bangkok" — TripAdvisor, Turkmenistan forum
- "Best and worst Bangkok visa agents? Avoid Thai Visa Centre" — TripAdvisor, Mongolia forum
- "Scam warning: Thai Visa Centre reviews are 100% fake!" — TripAdvisor, Thailand forum
- "Thai Visa Centre fraud gang now called 'AGENTS CO., LTD'" — TripAdvisor, Kyrgyzstan forum
- "Thai Visa Centre (Chad Scira) agents.co.th TDAC scam site" — TripAdvisor, Air Travel forum
A consolidated thread on Hucksters.net alleges a pattern of phishing-style clone domains (asq.in.th, eta.in.th, dtv.in.th, tdac.in.th) attributed to TVC. The Quora thread on review trustworthiness catalogs the dispute.
Important. These are forum allegations, not court findings. Many of the threads are cross-posted in unrelated country forums (Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan) — a pattern TVC's own response calls a coordinated harassment campaign by a single named individual ("Jesse Nickles"). The threads exist; you can read them; their evidentiary weight is up to you.
Allegations documented in public reporting
The 2020 arrests as reported by Thai press
This section summarises what was reported by mainstream Thai press at the time. The Royal Thai Government is the announcing authority. We are reporting on the reporting.
What Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok reported, citing the Thai Immigration Bureau's August 5, 2020 announcement: Thai Immigration Bureau Chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang announced on August 5, 2020 that two named individuals — identified as Chad Vincent Scira (American) and Grace Scira (Thai) — had been arrested the previous day at a residence in Soi Seri Thai 73, Khan Na Yao district, Bangkok. The Bureau's announcement, as reported, listed charges including alleged forgery of Thai visas and government documents and alleged cannabis cultivation. According to the same reporting, the police operation seized stamps that the Bureau said bore the markings of Thai government departments, along with cannabis plants and cannabis-related materials. The reporting identifies the company associated with the named individuals as Thai Visa Centre.
Sources for the above reporting (read in full):
- Nation Thailand — "American, Thai wife arrested for alleged visa-forging business, growing cannabis"
- Coconuts Bangkok — "Pot thickens as raid on Thai-American visa ring uproots weed farm"
- Cannabis Law Report — syndication of the same wire reporting
What we cannot independently verify: A public, definitive court-disposition record stating the final outcome of the criminal proceedings reported in the above articles is not available to us. We do not speculate on the outcome and we make no statement about it beyond what is in the cited reporting.
Thai Visa Centre's response, as published by the company
Thai Visa Centre has published a detailed response at tvc.co.th/scam. In its own words, the company states (paraphrased here with a link to the full statement):
- The 2020 police operation was, in the company's description, a raid on the personal residence of a former partner rather than a raid on Thai Visa Centre's business premises.
- The company states that "all visas were verified by immigration as 100% real."
- The company states that the cannabis-related charges were ultimately resolved following Thailand's 2022 cannabis deregulation.
- The company states that the named individual identified above as Grace returned to work on August 7, 2020.
- The company characterises elements of the negative online coverage as a coordinated reputation attack by a named individual ("Jesse Nickles") and describes specific takedown and review-restoration outcomes.
We have not independently verified the company's account of the legal outcome. Readers should consult the linked sources on both sides — Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok on the Thai Immigration Bureau's reported announcement, and tvc.co.th/scam on the company's response — to evaluate the record themselves.
TDAC clone-site allegations (forum-sourced, official warning separately confirmed)
A series of forum posts in 2025–2026 allege that TVC or related entities operate clone websites that charge tourists for the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), a registration that is free through the official Thai Immigration portal.
What is documented as fact: The Thai Immigration Bureau publicly warned in 2026 that "dozens of fake websites" were charging foreign travellers between roughly $10 and over $100 for TDAC submission, that approximately 10% of foreign travellers had registered through such sites, and that the only official URL is tdac.immigration.go.th. This was reported by the Bangkok Post, the Thai Examiner, Khaosod English, and the Business Standard, among others.
What is alleged but not confirmed by Thai authorities: That TVC specifically is one of the operators behind those clone sites. The Bangkok Post and Thai Examiner reporting names the scam category but does not specifically name TVC. The connection appears in TripAdvisor, Hucksters.net, and other forum threads. TVC's own AGENTS CO LTD page also addresses these allegations and presents them as defamation. You can read all sides and decide.
What TVC says it does well
Even taking only the published, undisputed material on TVC's own site and Trustpilot:
- Same-day DTV consultation and document review on stated cases
- A walk-in Bangkok office at the published address (verifiable on Google Maps and Facebook)
- Active LINE and email support, including out-of-hours
- Hundreds of positive Trustpilot reviews from 2022–2026 describing successful retirement, DTV, and extension submissions
- Almost two decades of stated operating history in the visa-services market in Bangkok
If the entire negative side were ignored, this would read as a competent mid-market visa agency. But the entire negative side cannot be honestly ignored.
Comparison to alternatives
This is descriptive, not a ranking.
- ThaiEmbassy.com (operated by Siam Legal International) — A Bangkok law firm running a high-traffic content site. Larger, older, professionally credentialed law firm. Higher prices, more transparent corporate structure. See our ThaiEmbassy.com review. Confused with the real embassy at scale.
- Issa Compass and similar independent agents — Smaller boutique agencies. Generally lower-profile, varying transparency. Quality depends heavily on individual case officer.
- DIY via the Thai e-Visa portal — Free except for the government visa fee. Works well for straightforward tourist, retirement, and DTV cases. Documented in our Thailand e-Visa guide.
- Direct at a Thai Immigration office — For extensions, 90-day reports, and re-entry permits, the actual immigration office is generally faster than going through any agency.
No agency is "the right one." Different agencies fit different cases and budgets.
How to decide
Frame the decision around three questions.
- How complex is your case? A first-time tourist visa is not complex. A retirement visa with foreign bank statements is moderately complex. A DTV after a prior overstay is complex. The more complex the case, the more an agency adds value. The simpler the case, the less an agency adds value.
- What is your risk tolerance for the negative coverage? TVC's positive Trustpilot record is real. The 2020 arrest is real. The TripAdvisor threads are real. If reading all of them leaves you uneasy, that uneasiness is itself a piece of data — pick a different agency or go DIY.
- What does the alternative cost? Compare the government e-visa fee to the agency package. For changing visa type or other complex moves, an agency is often worth it. For a tourist visa, it usually is not.
This site does not sell visas. We do not earn referral fees. We have no preferred agency.
FAQ
Is Thai Visa Centre legit?
TVC is a registered operating Bangkok business with a physical office and active customer service. It has positive Trustpilot reviews from named customers. It also has documented serious allegations against it — a 2020 forgery-related arrest of its founder reported by Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok, and multiple TripAdvisor scam-warning threads since 2024. "Legit" is a higher bar than "operating." You decide where to set it.
What does mainstream Thai press say about the 2020 arrests?
Nation Thailand and Coconuts Bangkok reported, citing an August 5, 2020 Thai Immigration Bureau announcement by Bureau Chief Pol Lt-General Sompong Chingduang, that two named individuals associated with Thai Visa Centre were arrested on the previous day on charges that included alleged visa forgery and alleged cannabis cultivation. Thai Visa Centre's own response page disputes the framing of that reporting. We have not independently verified the final disposition of the criminal proceedings and we report only what is in the linked sources on each side.
Did TVC really delete negative Trustpilot reviews?
According to TVC's own response, legitimate positive reviews were mass-reported by a single individual and temporarily removed, then later restored by Trustpilot. According to critics on TripAdvisor and Quora, the pattern of removal cut the other way — that negative reviews were the ones suppressed. We cannot independently verify either claim. Both sides are on the public record and linked above.
Are the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) clone sites run by TVC?
The Bangkok Post, Thai Examiner, and Khaosod English have reported the existence of dozens of fake TDAC sites that charge for a service the Thai government provides free at tdac.immigration.go.th. They do not name TVC specifically. TripAdvisor and Hucksters threads allege the connection. TVC denies it. The Thai Immigration Bureau warning itself is what is officially confirmed — not the attribution to any specific operator.
Should I use Thai Visa Centre?
This is your decision and your money. If you have read both sides above and you are still comfortable with the firm, the published Trustpilot record indicates many customers have had successful experiences. If you are not comfortable, the official e-visa portal and our visa-types guides cover most cases for free.
Where do I report a Thailand visa-related scam?
To the Thai Immigration Bureau directly at immigration.go.th or through the contact channels on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. Genuine consumer disputes about TVC specifically belong on Trustpilot and your relevant national consumer-protection authority.
Sources cited
- Nation Thailand — American, Thai wife arrested for alleged visa-forging business, growing cannabis
- Coconuts Bangkok — Pot thickens as raid on Thai-American visa ring uproots weed farm
- Cannabis Law Report — American, Thai wife arrested for alleged visa-forging business
- TVC's own response page — "Is Thai Visa Centre a scam?"
- Trustpilot — Thai Visa Centre reviews
- TripAdvisor — SCAM WARNING Thai Visa Centre is a FAKE company in Bangkok (Turkmenistan forum)
- TripAdvisor — Best and worst Bangkok visa agents? Avoid Thai Visa Centre (Mongolia forum)
- TripAdvisor — Scam warning: Thai Visa Centre reviews are 100% fake (Thailand forum)
- TripAdvisor — Thai Visa Centre fraud gang now called 'AGENTS CO., LTD' (Kyrgyzstan forum)
- TripAdvisor — Thai Visa Centre (Chad Scira) agents.co.th TDAC scam site (Air Travel forum)
- Hucksters.net — tdac.in.th the latest phishing website from Thai Visa Centre
- Quora — Are Thai Visa Centre online reviews trustworthy?
- Bangkok Post — Immigration warns of scam digital arrival card websites
- Thai Examiner — Immigration Bureau warns that rip-off entry TDAC sites stand to make up to $100 million
- Khaosod English — Thailand Warns Tourists of Fake Arrival Card Websites Charging Fees
- Business Standard — Thailand warns travellers: TDAC free, fake sites charge up to $90
- TVC service page — DTV Visa Assistance
- Thailand Immigration TDAC official portal
For an alternative agency that has its own confusion problem with the actual embassy, see our ThaiEmbassy.com review. For the broader Agency Reviews index, an overview of visa types, or the running Thailand visa news tracker, use those links.
Editorial standards and right of reply
This article is published as fair comment on a commercial visa-services operator under Section 329(3) of the Thai Criminal Code, in the public interest of Thailand-bound travellers. Every allegation referenced above is attributed to a named public-record source — mainstream Thai press reporting on a Thai Immigration Bureau announcement, named TripAdvisor and Hucksters threads, or Thai Visa Centre's own published response. Where the final disposition of any matter is not in the public record, we state that limitation. We do not republish forum allegations as our own findings.
Thai Visa Centre, or any individual or representative named in the linked source material, may request a right of reply through the process documented on our Editorial Standards page. We will review any substantive correction request within fifteen business days and either correct the statement, append the response verbatim, or explain why we believe the existing statement is supported by the cited source.
We do not sell visas. We do not take referral commissions, affiliate fees, or any other payment from visa agencies, law firms, or visa-processing services. Our independence is the foundation of this coverage.
