... but I would also example how the Thailand-built KoAloha Opio compares very well to any other non-Thailand (Hawaiian) built KoAloha because of how the Thailand factory was established and run by KoAloha.
This has not been my experience. I have had both an Opio and a Hawaiian-built KoAloha, and they were in different leagues. While I didn't have the issues with the Opio that others reported here (sloppy finish, dents, off-set seams, dead notes, etc) in various threads, the overall instrument clearly felt like the budget model that it was. I don't see much wrong with that as it cost half the price, but the level of quality was not comparable at all.
For me, this would be an example that outsourced production lowers the quality and quality control of the product. This is contrasted by the Indonesia-made Pono baritone I had, which was a very fine, flawlessly finished and built instrument. I don't have a Ko'olau to compare it to, but nothing about it said that it was a foreign-built lower-cost version of the "real thing".