You’re fighting an uphill battle. The one question they say they’re answering is, why would she leave the US once here. This is a tough one as they see the US as paradise on earth and once here why in heaven’s name would they want to leave. It’s been this way for at least 20 years and is now even hard under tRump.
Although getting a Thai residence visa isn’t all that hard, just gotta jump through the hoops and meet their requirements. But if that’s too hard for you, maybe look at Cambodia. They have fairly lose residency requirements for foreigners and cheaper than Thailand.
They simply don’t want you to become destitute and a ward of the State. US is now doing kinda the same thing, except there you buy a US Citizenship for a mere $5,000,000. Be happy Thailand only requires you show proof of income and have 800,000 THB in a Thai bank.