It’s true that when you first visit a country, be it Thailand or elsewhere, everything is new and exciting. If you stay longer there’s usually a reason, but it’s got nothing to do with the status it holds , best this, best that ! Mostly , years back it was so much cheaper so easier to appreciate to a max. I stayed through the EU winters, as millions of snowbirds, because the weather is great in the dry season . Then also you get used to the system , renting, shopping, best local hospitals etc and then you end up staying,,or doing the same thing year in year out. Boredom often sets in with me, so up till Covid hit I traveled a lot outside Thailand., For newcomers it will probably be nicer, but if the government doesn’t pull its socks up and fix everything that’s breaking down, they won’t come back. Polls tell you hardly anything.