Told American Express can be used anywhere... LIES

We recently left South Africa to head over to Thailand for a 12 day holiday and then move to Hong Kong for work. We put the majority of our money into a U.S. Dollar card, as advised by American Express. The guy who served us told us we would be able to draw at any ATM and swipe everywhere. Well we were unable to swipe at all in Thailand. In Hong Kong it's been even worse, no shops have accepted American Express not even McDonald's. There is only one bank in Hong Kong called AEON that we can draw money from and they are not very popular, we went all around Hong Kong looking for a bank. I will never get American Express travelers card again or recommend it to anyone traveling!