Cheer up, mate! Don't feel bad. This is just a classic situation and the whole conversation you had with her was classic.
From her point of view she is just doing what she has to do. She would have 5 BFs if she could pull it off, because in the end she feels that she would be lucky to end up with one out of the 5, and that some will never come back to LOS for years, some will grow bored and decide to butterfly, some will take a fancy to another girl, some hook up with an ex-GF, and some are just telling her lies about how they feel about her the whole time. And if out of the lot of them, there is one left who shows when he says he will, treats her well, and is faithful to her(even tho she is not to him), then even he does not qualify as a real honest-to-god(or bhudda) BF until he is willing to fork over the dough on a regular basis to support her, because in her mind, that is what BFs do.
And even if he does sponsor her, then you know all the risks involved in that!!
It is just the predicament we face, and there is no easy solution and it is all a crapshoot, unless you are able to live there, which improves the odds appreciably, but still is no guarantee. Or you can take her home, and that is a crapshoot, for sure!!
So don't feel so bad(easy for me to say!). It is the price you pay when you are in this situation, yet have a romantic heart and, for the time you are there, enjoy living the fantasy with a sweet girl(or a tart one!), who makes you feel like you are the only one. As you yourself stated, we try to "live the dream" while we are there. But the deck is stacked against us. So the only thing to do is take the bitter with the sweet. Which, even with the pain, is IMHO, the better alternative to living a dreary sort of limbo life in farangland year 'round, with no excitement and no romantic fantasy in your life. Sometimes even pain is better than the numbness of boredom and hopelessness.
BTW, I bet you $50, that you will hear from her again. If not, you will be a "rich" farang when you collect your winnings!!
And that's 2 nights on me with the next love of your life!!
JayBee
