Can my Russian wife get a residence permit for China from Thailand?

I am a United States citizen that recently married a Russian citizen in Tianjin China. We are wanting to get her a Temporary Residence permit from somewhere other than Russia (it is too far/expensive for her to get it done in Russia at the moment. We are wanting to go on a honeymoon to Thailand soon. Can we apply at the Chinese Embassy in Thailand for the Temporary Residence Permit to coincide with my Foreign Expert Residence permit allowing me to live/work here in Russia. I am told that I must first get an S1 type, before she can get a temporary residence. Is this correct. Do we really have to go to all of the expense of getting an S1, only to have it cancelled when we apply for the residence permit? If this is in fact the only way to do it...can it be done from Beijing or Bangkok?
The HR department at my firm here in China is beyond USELESS...they have given us so much erroneous information it is disgusting. They have already caused my wife to over stay on her visa when we first got here (causing her to get the official letter in her file of her overstaying. I do not trust my HR/Foreign Liaison AT ALL!
Can someone PLEASE help?