THE HONEYMOONERS

The world is replete with unrest. Remember the sapphire necklace that we 'luckily' discovered at the export factory in Bangkok? This global unrest runs the gamut from terorist attacks to natural disasters to religious wars. Well, we got professional duped and I can't say that we weren't warned. What about the recent tsumani in Indonesia responsible for over 600 lives or the tsumani in the same region in Dec. 2004? Uncle Joel and my dad both offered their admonitions of gem scams, but i guess we didn't pay them enough mind. Or the bombing of the train in Mumbai?

It was after a curious Googling of "Blue Dragon Export Factory in Thailand" that I first realized our fate. And the situation in the Middle East has gone from bad to worse. Our story is eerily similar to the 'how it is done' template below. With most of the U.S. still wondering what we're doing in Iraq, neighboring Iran and Syria are now global threats and South Korea is 'testing' missiles. It sure is upsetting financially and emotionally when you're the victim of a crime that you thought could never happen to you, a scam that you're too intelligent for. As far as the Miami sports scene, Alonzo coming back is fantastic news and Daunte seems poised to lead the Dolphins to a new era of greatness. Its a mental shock that your gut feeling and trust could be so wrong. With all these G8 conferences and governmental meetings, it seems that talk is getting cheaper with each summit. At this time, the end to the gem scam is pending and I look forward to telling you (in person) just how it ended. I'll just say that Jay is working on it.

How it is done:
This is a by-the-numbers scam. Most people have the exact same experience. It usually goes something like this:
1. You are riding in a tuk-tuk (us)
2. The driver tells you that wherever you are going is closed for some reason. (us, told the Grand Palace was closed)
3. The driver tells you he is specially trained to be helpful to tourists. (ehh, kinda)
4. You are told the government has launched a promotion to sell gems to tourists. (sort of)
5. In the course of riding around with the "friendly" tuk-tuk driver, you "accidentally" meet a well-dressed young man or an older, distinguished man. (yes)
6. The younger man claims he is a student. The older will claim he works for the government and shows you his government ID. (claimed he was a restaurant owner)
7. The person you meet independently confirms the story the tuk-tuk driver told. This is a nice touch. (sure was a nice touch, seemed so independent, but we fed him. Also met 2-3 other 'independent' sources over the course of the day)
8. Eventually you ask to be taken to the "government" jewelry house and are told that you can make 100-150% profit by reselling the gems back home. It seems okay since the seller writes something like "if everything is not ok we will offer a full refund" and puts an official looking stamp on it. (true, but we weren't gonna sell)
9. You've now been cheated by one of the oldest and most openly practiced scams in Thailand. (thanks)

Sorry for the delay in posting. This happened almost 2 weeks ago, but we could not access the blog in China (communism???)