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.