Good question, but the point is, if they could get PR / citizenship at 55, given they moved here at 50, when they reached retirement visa age, and they don't work, because they were wealthy and didn't have to, or maybe worked in a mine or were a rig pig (yes - I know you should not be working on a retirement visa) and they have had 5 years of living in Thailand with no criminal history, perhaps these people would have bought a property back then, thus injecting a lot of money into the Thai economy and housing market, same with a car, and so on. The reason being, they have stability, and no longer at at the whim of Thailand's visa policies and flip flops. As the OP points out, it's all one way traffic for retired expats in Thailand. Expat retiree money in, and the Thai government gives nothing back in return. Thus, why would a new retiree buy any big ticket items now? Many are wising up. Having a job in Thailand for the sake of citizenship would have been a waste of my time, and money, 20 years ago. For some reason, you are focusing on the minority. That's not what this thread is about.
