Most of the MT sparring I've seen actual Thais do is very light. I get the impression they learn to fight in the ring from a young age, so their sparring can be more laid back and timing oriented. Personally I much prefer that style, makes your skills better and doesn't lead to anywhere near the same number of injuries and bout cancellations as hard sparring all the time. Not that it proves anything, but Floyd Mayweather and Conor MacGregor are both really big advocates of long, low intensity sparring sessions, as are Eastern Bloc wrestling coaches and Japanese Judoka.
This is a big reason why I do not enjoy Judo in the US. We've got some BS spread by coaches who think they are smart, saying that practice should replicate contest conditions. But in the end, it means that everyone is defensive and you might get 3 or so good attacks in per round.
Going with Japanese players is a real pleasure though. When they say they 'play' Judo that's what they mean. Everyone takes appropriate risks so that there are a lot more opportunities to practice.
Especially irritating are those who want to reduce Judo to tee-ball, where they just want to grind you with power grips and decide the game by a stamina match. I could go to the gym for that.
Then again, I don't see as much value in BJJ flow roll, so maybe I've been infected too...