I don't know about thio based curly perms, but quite a few people with really long hair have texturizers. Check out the before and afters at curve-salon.com. And lhcf members Anikalia and Crysdon come to mind. I'm sure there are more, but I'm sleepy.
I think a thio curly perm would be too messy for hair longer than shoulder length. The activator would get on your clothes.