the official TDAC website, the link you gave. About the 90 days report, they write : "must notify in writing the nearest Immigration Officer, (..), as soon as possible upon expiration of 90 days"
This is wrong : first of all "as soon as possible upon expiration of 90 days" : this means that you'd have to wait for the 90 days to pass, and THEN notify as quickly as possible. Which is wrong as you can (and better should) do it earlier.
Furthermore it says "in writing", which is also wrong : notifying by sending a letter can only be done during a certain window of time before the 90 days. And there are other options also, but this text suggests it has to be done in writing.
And even "the nearest officer" is weird wording. If there are 3 officiers sitting there, you have to measure out who is sitting closer ? 555 But o.k., I'll let this one slide.
This just shows that even the information on their official website is just a big mess. I'm not surprised that people get confused. I also remember (as OP mentioned) that earlier the wording for the TDAC was something like "until 3 days before" , as if that was a deadline after which you can't do it anymore.
So now that has been removed, only to be replaced by misinformation about the 90 day report, which has nothing to do with the TDAC.
seems the info on the page has changed again. No info on the timeline of the TDAC , but instead there is now weird misleading/wrong info on the 90 day reporting. At least that's what I see when I go to the website.
No wonder some people get confused. Can't blame them.
it gives 5 years in which you don't have to deal with extensions anymore,nwhich also means that at "that time of the year" you don't have te be in Thailand It is multiple re-entry, no 90 day reporting (only once a year reporting) and no taxation on money you bring into Thailand (depending on one's situation you may not have to pay tax anyway, but with this visa it gives you a huge privilege)
It may not be the best for some people, but the typical non-immigrant O based on 50+ is also not the best for many people. In fact, it is just a generic option which fits most, many non-immigrant O holders would rather have the LTR if they could qualify.
Nothing in his post suggests that he can't qualify for LTR, he even is considering paying for the privilege visa. Which is more costly than an LTR visa. Working hard or not having had to work for someone's money is also completely irrelevant. Either you qualify or not, and if you want to save money than LTR beats the privilege he is willing to buy.
The point is : saying the non-immigrant O based on over 50 is the best option (which what I reacted to) is not correct. If you qualify for LTR, that may probably a far better option.