Actually last time they commented how nice it was to deal with someone who was dressed smartly and tried to communicate in Thai even if largely unsuccessfully.
On renewal did you have to supply your bank account statements and or passbook. If so they probably checked without asking you directly..
Well your experience is clearly different from mine and many others who have posted on here. On renewal they did look that the intial transfer of funds to Thai bank was from abroad (FBB code iirc).