Thunderbolt doesn’t matter at those speeds unless you are doing some seriously heavy film editing or FX work.
I currently have an M2 MBA (15-inch) with 24GB memory, and a 2TB drive ( I paid the Apple tax but got it refurbed so it was not as painful), running Windows 11 ARM under Parallels, and it’s fantastic (no heavy games, but all my Windows apps and games run like a breeze and barely ramp up the CPU). I do wish I had just waited and gotten the 14-inch Pro with 32GB because it would have given me some breathing room, plus extra ports, but I get by just fine.
If it’s in the budget, get the Pro for the cores, but no matter what, get 32GB at least.
If your games run fine under Parallels now on the Intel machine, they should run even better under Windows 11 ARM on an M4 or M4 Pro.
Check Apple’s refurb store (bottom of the Apple.com website). They have same warranty and I’ve never had a problem.