surprised that a member of this group for over a year that should have seen tons of posts from the longtime members here giving helpful advice would say what you said. Especially when such members are having to repeatedly correct wrong information on the consulate websites, or giving real world experiences about enforcement and inconsistency between consulates and immigration.
honestly, whether you've been asked in your few times entering is statistically insignificant compared to the several million tourists who enter Thailand each year. You must not pay the close attention to the groups that others do, where there have been plenty of reports over the years of people asked to show the funds in cash, and denied entry when they don't have it. However, as I said, the odds of it happening are smaller than those of you being hand searched for drugs. But that doesn't mean people don't get searched for illicit materials every day, just like several out of tens of thousands of people entering Thailand daily get asked to show the funds.
a bank statement doesn't meet the requirement. You must show it in actual cash, not via credit cards, banking apps, etc. However the odds of being asked for the average person without a problematic entry or stay history is about as much as being randomly pulled aside and searched for illegal drugs.
The answer is likely consulate specific. The Hong Kong consulate so far seems to be limiting the sponsor to only a spouse or other immediate family member.
it's no longer up to debate. The visa itself has been posted and the government has issued plenty of information indicating it is a multi entry 5 year visa granting 180 days each time, and extendable once per entry for 180 more days. So after 360 days, you need to leave and reenter to reactivate the visa.
dependents can only apply by giving the DTV visa number of the family member who was approved. Per some consulate sites I've read, the dependent can use the proof of funds of a family member by submitting documents proving the relationship between them.
If you use Bolt or InDrive, you don't have to go to the Grab pickup spot and you just tell the driver which terminal door you are at and they come to you. Just did it yesterday. Also Bolt and InDrive are often far cheaper than Grab so no idea why people keep using Grab. My ride from the airport was quoted at 565 baht in Grab, 264 baht in Bolt, and 299 baht in InDrive.
ah that's the only other airport I forgot to name that has any statistical likelihood for issues. USM (Samui), URT (Suratthani) and other small airports don't seem to have such incidents reported. I think I read one from Samui in the past few years.