In my opinion they are very much related. If they were solely for countries were you cannot return home, they they would only give them to people from those countries. Due to the closed borders, visa runs are not an option anymore, so keeping tourist in the country for a longer period can only be done with the covid extension.
This is just my opinion of course and you are free to disagree. Wl'll see what happens.
Thanks guys! Switched all to JPG through Adobe, and had the passes within 10 minutes approved!
Some more questions, does the PCR test have to be 72 hours before departure from main port or entering into Thailand? Also, do my parents need to show any additional documents (besides QR code+passports) when boards or entering Thailand?