Pirate attacks occurred regularly in Southeast Asia and the waters of Bangladesh between 1992 and 2006. Within this region piracy hot spots shifted between countries and ocean areas over time. In the early 1990s the waters between the Malacca and Singapore Straits were identified as the most pirate-prone, and between 1993 and 1995 a high proportion of reported attacks took place in the South China Sea. However, since the mid-1990s Indonesian ports and territorial waters were the most pirate-infested in Southeast Asia. Of considerable concern in the early twenty-first century was also the high number of attacks in the busy Malacca Strait and the waters of Bangladesh. Pirates in these waters have targeted merchant vessels as well as small craft with attacks ranging from simple hit-and-run robberies to hijackings. While hijackings of vessels and kidnapping of crew occurred in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, the vast majority of pirate attacks on merchant vessels were simple hit-and-run robberies at sea or in ports. Opportunistic sea robbers or organized pirate syndicates were responsible for these attacks.

In terms of attacks on small craft, yachts have only rarely been targeted in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh between 1992 and 2006. However, examples from Bangladesh to the waters between Sabah and the southern Philippines have highlighted that piracy is a real concern for fishers. Indeed, fishers are arguably most affected by piracy, and attacks on such vessels were often serious in nature, and included kidnapping of fishers. Overall, attacks on fishers can have very different consequences and impact compared with attacks on merchant vessels, as sea robbers inevitably confront the fishers directly and can destroy a fisherman's livelihood by taking his vessel, equipment, or catch. However, fishers were not only victims of pirate attacks. In many places in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, fishermen themselves were the perpetrators, attacking their counterparts or participating in attacks on merchant vessels.