After 264 uninterrupted days at sea supporting the U.S. war against Iran, sailors and Marines from the USS Abraham Lincoln finally stepped ashore this week in Pattaya, the Thai resort city long associated with sex tourism and U.S. military shore leave.
Buses carrying crew members streamed into Pattaya on Thursday after the aircraft carrier docked at nearby Laem Chabang port. The Lincoln has now been deployed for 286 days in total, according to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and is expected to leave Thailand over the weekend as it continues its journey home.
Gallery
F/A-18E Super Hornet aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln
(Photo: AFP PHOTO / US NAVY / NAVCENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
The stop gives the carrier’s roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines a rare chance for rest and recreation after a deployment that included a record 264 consecutive days at sea. The unusually long stretch had raised concerns about crew morale and shortages of key food supplies aboard the ship.
The Navy played down reports of serious problems, while President Donald Trump said last month that the deployment was “not nearly long enough.”
But the choice of Pattaya for shore leave also revives a much older connection between the Thai resort and the U.S. military.
Pattaya still has a strong reputation for sex tourism, despite years of efforts to remake itself as a more family-friendly destination with malls, resorts, parks and other attractions. Its modern nightlife industry has deep roots in the Vietnam War era, when tens of thousands of American service members were stationed in Thailand and flocked to what had previously been a quiet fishing community.
At the height of the Vietnam War, between 40,000 and 50,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Thailand, mainly in support of American air operations. Pattaya was close to the Sattahip naval base and U-Tapao airfield, where U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers operated. Bars, massage parlors and other nightlife businesses expanded around the steady flow of servicemen, helping establish the resort’s long-running sex-tourism reputation.
Pattaya
(Photo: David Silverman)
Prostitution remains illegal in Thailand, although the law is often loosely enforced. Paying for sex is also punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and U.S. Navy shore patrol personnel work alongside Thai police when large numbers of sailors are granted liberty in Pattaya.
On Thursday, however, many of the Lincoln crew members arriving in the city appeared focused on more conventional shore leave.
Vendors and travel agents gathered outside the Hard Rock Hotel, which served as a pickup and drop-off point for personnel coming from the carrier. Sailors climbed off buses carrying luggage as sellers offered souvenirs, transportation and other services.
Several service members told The Associated Press they were simply happy to be back on land.
Dozens were later seen walking through Pattaya’s Terminal 21 mall carrying shopping bags and escaping the afternoon heat.
A 20-year-old navigator serving aboard the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr., part of the Lincoln strike group, told AP that morale among his crew was high after reaching Thailand. He described his first Navy deployment as difficult but said he was relieved to finally be heading home.
Two other ships from the Lincoln strike group are also in Thailand. The Petersen docked at Sriracha in Chonburi province, while the cruiser USS Robert Smalls arrived at Map Ta Phut in neighboring Rayong province.
The arrival has also provided a boost for local businesses accustomed to U.S. military port calls.
Pattaya
(Photo: Reuters)
A-ngoon Sombat traveled about 200 kilometers from Ayutthaya province to Pattaya to sell braided bracelets to visiting sailors, something she does whenever she hears that an American warship is arriving nearby.
“There are many vendors around. It’s really up to how lucky each of us are,” she told AP.
The carrier itself became a local attraction after docking Wednesday. Residents and tourists gathered outside Laem Chabang port to peer through a fence at the vessel, which is roughly the length of three American football fields.
American Keith Eldridge, who has lived in Thailand for five years, traveled from neighboring Chachoengsao province specifically to see the ship.
“When you get to look at something so big, wrapped up with so much technology, the radars, the sonars, the weapon systems, the propulsion systems, it is truly amazing that we can build it, float it, and we fight from it,” he told AP.
The Lincoln’s commanding officer, Capt. Dan Keeler, said the carrier would soon continue toward the United States, although it could make additional supply stops along the way. He declined to say exactly when the strike group is expected home.