Good heavens, are we still having this argument?
Yes, the word “thug” is widely regarded as a racially loaded term, and has been since well before that six-year-old thread was started.
That’s not to say that everybody who uses the term intends it as a racial slur, or that every variant form of it is equally racially loaded. (The phrase “jackbooted thug” for some kind of government enforcer, for example, is pretty race-neutral AFAICT.)
But if you choose to use the word “thug”, you should be aware that many people might consider your usage racist, because there are very many people who do use the word in a racist way.