I think it luck of the draw. Some of the O&G guys have been told to get a visa while others are having no issues. There was no DTV when two pals frkn Singapore got pulled up. They got METV. One had a note put on his immigration record. He had it took off in a very rural immigration office for a small fee.
There are only two categories of DTV, Soft Power and Workaytion. Retirement is not a category that qualifies for a DTV. There are other visa types for that - 4 I know of the top of my head "O", O-A". "O-X" and "LTR".
There were other individual branches at other banks. For example Krungsri at EmQuatrtier was well known for facilitating account opening on VE and TR. It was individual branches of banks though - pretty sure it was down to the discretion of the manager. Many could not be arsed 🙂
Who issued the rule? It was never a "Law". Was it a BoT (Bank of Thailand) rule or guideline - must be a link to it. Was it a rule of individual banks or was it just left to the discretion of individual bank managers?