I am not certain that is accurate. My understanding is that if you are remote from a DLT office, the the local police can issue your licence. My Thai sister in law obtained her licence from a remote police station after I taught her to drive. Maybe the police station processes the paperwork and sends it to the DLT who actually issue the licence?
Expensive iss relative. In the past when I have wanted to move, say, $10,000 from my Australian bank to my Thai bank, I have looked at a number of options. It is no good looking at the cost alone. I always choose the option that puts more Thb into my Thai bank. Although Wise has a higher charge, the exchange rate Wise uses is good for me, so I finish up with more Thb in my Thai bank.
Commonsense is chasing you but you need to slow down so it can catch up. New Immigraation rules would need to be enqacted by the Thai Parliament and pubished in the Government Gazette. There are no new Immigration rules. The rules have not changed, but the old (current) rules are being ienforced in a different way.
Everything that you state is fully correct. But what you do not state is that the changes ar not related to new rules but are changes to how the old rules are being interpreted.