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When we think of piracy on the high seas, the image of a long-bearded captain or movie hero Jack Sparrow comes to mind. He was the kind of outlaw we all like to root for. After all, he and the other buccaneer underdogs were going up against a great empire. We envy their romantic adventures, the ghosts and demons they hack to pieces while on uncharted journeys, and we cheer them on because of their refusal to bow down to authority. And although they may have drunk much of what they stole, all of us get a kick out of how these booze-guzzling, womanising pirates succeed in eluding the crooked authorities.

But the popular imagination is far from the truth.

While pirate attacks on ships on the open sea is nothing new, the issue received unprecedented media attention this past week following the hijackings of cargo ships off the coast of Somalia, which is, for all intents and purposes a lawless country and a failed state.

An Indian naval ship opted for force, sinking a Somali pirate ship while Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, has decided to negotiate for the release of the super-tanker Sirius Star, which is carrying US$100 million (Bt3.5 billion) of crude oil.

The pirates who hijacked the Saudi super-tanker are demanding $ 25 million in ransom for the ship, cargo and crew, and have set a 10-day deadline.

The attack on the Sirius Star is extremely important because it is a testimony to the fact that scaling the sides of such a massive oil tanker is not beyond the capability of the pirates. In the past it was generally assumed that a tanker like the Sirius Star was pretty safe. Another disturbing aspect of this attack is the fact that the tanker was at least 450 miles southeast of the coast of Kenya when it was taken. This is reportedly twice as far from the shore that pirates in the region have ever struck.

In Cairo, Arab states with coastlines along the Red Sea met yesterday at an emergency meeting to deal with the growing piracy crisis that has been described by the International Maritime Bureau as "out of control". All possible options and solutions were on the table, according to the Egyptian government.

Egypt relies heavily on revenue from shipping using the Suez Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean - the short cut between Europe and Asia. About 7.5 per cent of global trade passes through the canal. But some vessels are now reportedly taking alternative routes. Already, the threat has prompted Norwegian shipping company Odfjell to revert to the longer, more expensive, but safer route around the Cape of Good Hope, thus avoiding the Suez Canal and the Somali coast.

In the past, shipping companies calculated it was worth the risk to pay ransom to secure their cargo because the chances of getting hijacked were not that high. The same attitude was apparent among Thai fishing vessels that fish illegally in our neighbours' territorial waters. Officials from neighbouring countries love to go after Thai fishing vessels (that are trawling illegally) because they know they can demand much more money from the captured ships than the stated fines. Joint and coordinated patrols between the Thai Navy and neighbouring countries have put an end to some of these illegal activities on the high seas.

Today, no pirates talk about swashbuckling adventure, but only the possibility of raking in massive profits from ransom at little risk. In the case of Somalis, the temptation to escape lives of poverty has lured many young men into piracy. Whatever is left that constitutes a government in this war-torn country is unable to prevent them doing so, containing the problem at any level.

A military approach might not be the answer, or even part of the answer. A holistic approach that takes into consideration the plight of the Somali people and the dire situation that leads men to become pirates should be the best route to take.