Too Long for a Tweet, Too Short for a Blog Post IX

Here's an excerpt from a book I recently read, "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food":

The Chinese are only part of the illegal flow in and out of Bangkok. Thailand has been drawing people from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan, all of them on their way elsewhere.  The most interesting migrant population in Thailand may be the North Koreans.  Many of them crossed the northern border into China and then walked all the way to Bangkok, he said, running his finger down the length of China.  I gawked.  It was a massive distance - equivalent to walking from Maine to Texas.  He had heard the stories thousands of times: "It's human nature," he said.  "Everyone wants to better their life."