Sea change
In Thailand, it is not cool to get excited about marine conservation. Saving the tiger? Yes. Saving the mackerel? No. Unlike the naked anti-fur trade activists, those fighting for fish and coral seldom stir up passions. This is the reality facing conservationists like the Wildlife Fund of Thailand.
So step forward pop and movie stars. While not actually wading into the sea to protect marine life, they are lending their names and faces to a campaign. Helping the Wildlife Fund are pop star and actor Hugo, also known as Jullajak Jakrapong, and actor Willie Macintosh, to name but two. Hugo, 21, told The Nation newspaper: 'For people who live in towns, issues like seagrass, endangered sea turtles and dugongs are largely unheard of.'
Sompob Siri-swang, a conservationist with the Wildlife Fund, said: 'It's extremely difficult to get Thai people interested in saving marine life.'
TV commercials have failed to attract much attention, while the fund's Seas are Life campaign was not seen as a 'sexy' issue like saving the tiger, according to Mr Sompob.
He said it was a challenge to get policy-makers to act - especially as Thai seafood is big business, hauling in more than 142 billion baht (HK$26 billion) a year, according to the latest figures.
But the seas of Thailand are being overfished to the point where Thais are being forced to illegally fish in Myanmarese and Cambodian waters.
It is part of a worldwide problem, prompting a Newsweek magazine cover headline: 'Are the Oceans Dying?' Fish certainly are, far too many of them. And in Thailand, as in many other countries, fishermen are not going to change easily. A change in government attitude is needed - not easy when the focus is on economic growth, not conservation.
Although there was a mass dive by 600 people last month to replant coral in the Gulf of Thailand, and more people are taking an interest in green issues, it is a tough battle.
With the teeth of hungry businessmen sunk into the lucrative seafood market, it will take more than a handful of singing and dancing celebrities to change mindsets.
