Huge Mistake

I've learned the world can be a very cruel and slimy place. I'm sure now that Thaiexport was a scam, a dirty dirty scam. Everyone was so nice and seemed so genuine. I was totally charmed out of a lot of money. But mistakes are both human and a way to learn and grow. And I chose to be thrown into this world with no knowledge of what could happen. Here is what happened. A very kind looking/sounding man introduced himself to me while I was on the street. After helping me find where I was, he gave me several supposedly helpful tips. Such as Tuk Tuks with yellow licences plates are supported by a transport company, where white licence plates are just single drivers who can charge as much as they want. As well as telling me about the buddest Holiday, and gave me a list of places to go. Starting with the "open one day a year" black Buddha temple. And then about the "last day" of Thaiexports tourist promotion. That he was surprised I didn't see on TV that morning. He flagged down a Tuk Tuk and told the driver where I was to go. We flew off to the Black Buddah temple, where upon entering the courtyard I was told to wait till 2:00 when the monks would be done praying, it was about 1:30. I sat down and another very kind looking/sounding man sat next to me and asked me where I was going after this. I told him I heard about Thaiexport and he agreed and confirmed with everything the last man told me. He said he was born in Cambodia but moved to San Fransisco and was back on  a trip specifically for Thaiexports 7 day tourist thing. And how it was his 11th year doing so. Everything sounded so great and lucky and both men seemed like they wouldn't hurt a fly. So I left for Thaiexport as it was closing in an hour. I arrived. was greeted, and showed my passport. I was lead to the second floor where there were cases of jewelry and fancily dressed women. After showing me some certificates and being very very convincing in his story about the 195% luxury tax that would be taken off, and the 20% flood compensation from the government, and the limit of how much I could buy per passport, and how I could sell it for the price with all of that, so twice what I pay for, in the US. While I was looking another "customer" walked in and was showed what I was showed and began to tell me I was only hesitant, and I was, because it was my first time, he had been 14 years. I had escaped so many scams all day, and thought of myself as someone who would never ever fall for such foolish things, but everything seemed so valid. So I decided to go with the flow, and play around with what life was giving me and do it. The most embarrassing mistake of my life. We went to the next floor to the managers office, full of tusks and statues and fountains. Again, he was a very kind looking/sounding person. And was very charming, not in the normal scamy way. I bought a ring, the cheapest they had, at the prospect of selling in for twice as much in the US to have more money to travel on, seeing as I'm traveling on so little as it is. I stupidly signed some things, he packaged up the ring and had one of his girls escort me to the post office to send it back to the US to someone I knew to sell it for me. It seems so official and fun. I left and was proud of myself for making more    money to travel on. But after playing the story over and over in my head, my heart sank and by nightfall I felt ridiculous. There is no worse feeling then knowing you messed up and it was all due to your own naive stupidity. and poor judgment. In my first day in Bangkok I got slapped in the face by reality. I never believed people could be so slimy. But, beating myself up over it wont get me anywhere. I could steep for hours in my own naive misfortune.Clearly not everyone is out there to help you, nor are the out there to get you, theres as mixture, hopefully more of the former.
Anyway, I left the polluted Bangkok on an overnight bus, that way I don't waste a day driving, and have to pay for both a bed and a bus, just sleep on the bus. (I have to be really really careful how much money I spend per day now.) I found a room for 100baht ($3.00!) We had to drive through the flood zone, it was very apocalyptic. And now I'm in Chaing Mai. So far I love it. It's much quieter and calmer then Bangkok. There's a boat load of monks everywhere. I'm going to go spend some time in a thousands of years old meditation tunnel today. Oh and I forgot to bring my camera cable to the Internet today, so sorry no pictures, next time.
However incredibly and irrevocably embarrassing a start this is, I'm loving this other planet called Asia. Keep Smiling :)