How to escape North Korea

I wonder why Thailand sends them to South Korea, where other countries along the way are sent back to NK... in any case it reminds me of how I miss living in Thailand :>

> the journey will first pass through China, Vietnam and Laos, where they must be on the alert for police who might arrest them and send them back the way they came — to certain and brutal punishment in North Korea.

uh...the chinese gov. says it's 'helping' to get NK to the right mind, but... guess there's some big inconsistency between what it does & what it says...

edit: lol sorry for the wrong idea