Heat oil in pot and sweat garlic, onions, carrots and celery until soft. Add potatoes, bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
Add stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
Melt butter in the pot and whisk in 1-1 ½ tbsp flour to create a roux. Slowly add some stock and whisk until it has thickened.
Whisk the roux and chowder base and simmer until thickened about 10 to 20 minutes.
Add the cream, frozen corn and shrimp and simmer until heated through.
For Serving: Ladle some broth with lots of shrimp and vegetables into each bowl.
To Garnish: Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, cayenne, paprika, dried parsley. Coat each of the thirty shrimp. Pan-fry until crisp; approximately 1 minute on each side. Place five shrimp in the center of each bowl with a sprig of thyme.