Exactly. If someone was sick or in accident then it would be no issue getting extension. If lack of funds to do a visa run it opens up all sorts of questions for Immigration.
A cooking course is not too onerous in the amount of time it would take. There is another visa for Startups. Google "BOI Smart "S" Visa". Been a lot of changes to it though.
In coming here 30 years and spending over a decade here with hundreds of entries that is the tightest Visa Exempt I have known. When I loved in Singapore I would have around 10 Visa Exempt entries a year with no issues.