By Sally Mairs
Preferring to risk death than face deportation, Dong Junming boarded a boat off Thailand's coast alongside eight fellow Chinese asylum-seekers in early March with the improbable plan of steering themselves to New Zealand.
He and his group are part of a growing number of refugees -- especially Chinese nationals -- who feel Thailand is no longer a safe haven under junta rule.
"I was desperate and frightened," Dong, 52, told AFP of his attempted sea escape. "Even though I could have died, I had to try."
Thailand has a complex and ambivalent attitude towards refugees. It still holds hundreds of thousands in border camps -- most the legacy of regional Cold War conflict years -- but it does not legally recognise refugees or offer asylum.
This places the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) in charge of handling a rising tide of applications.
Read the full story at TerraDaily