not with all immigration offices. Did a 90 day report last week having been out of the country and CM Immigration had zero issues with my filed TM30 from about four years ago - and they did check it.
I met some folks I know from FB at a market in Hang Dong about a month ago. After being introduced as Australian, my first response was I'm sorry, my grandparents were Scottish and I could, with some effort, get UK citizenship 😉
No disagreement, but they vary as you know and CM doesn't care within reason.
What you're saying about Phuket is interesting - then again, Phuket also attracts s**t tourists and some of the worst of my fellow countrymen. Making a bogan wear a proper shirt to turn up to extend is a reasonable request :)
I agree with everything you said except how you interpret the dress smartly part. I've heard that over and over again in the nearly decade I've been here and Thai Immigration mostly doesn't care. Never turn up to immigration looking like you've been to the beach but I'd been told to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt previously - I did and then I didn't and nothing was different. I always wear a polo shirt with my shorts and flip-flops when getting two year extensions - and I'm sure they don't care.
You cant do it online and the easiest of those options is to take a Thai customer with you - negates all the other BS. I avoid third party services like the plauge but if you dont know any Thais and want to get the job done quickly - pay for a service that assists.