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The US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln docked in Pattaya, Thailand, after 286 days at sea, drawing renewed attention to reports of poor mental health and attempted suicides among the crew. Local authorities ramped up security and restricted certain activities during the port call, while the city's mayor sought to downplay its longstanding reputation as a military rest-and-recreation hub.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier at the centre of international controversy over conditions on board, has arrived in Thailand for a port call after 286 days at sea.
Reports of deteriorating living conditions and poor mental health among the crew, including attempted suicides, have made headlines around the world, provoking sharp criticism of the president's military actions. A heavy security presence was deployed at Laem Chabang port near Pattaya, south of Bangkok, where the 5,000-strong crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived on Wednesday.
The huge nuclear-powered ship left California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was later rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began six months ago. Commanding officer Dan Keeler of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier addressed the press during their port call at the Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya, providing brief remarks to assembled journalists.
US service personnel of the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in waves at hotels across Pattaya, where they were given a brief period of rest and recuperation. The resort city of Pattaya, a long-standing rest-and-recreation destination for US troops since the Vietnam war, has stepped up security operations in advance of the carrier's arrival. The sailors disembarked in groups of approximately 50, according to police colonel Anek Srathongyoo, a superintendent of Pattaya city police station.
Local authorities have arranged buses to transport the sailors between the ship and Pattaya until the carrier departs on Sunday. Once a quiet fishing village, Pattaya was transformed into one of the most infamous red light districts in the world with the arrival of American troops using military bases in Thailand during the Vietnam war.
At its peak, tens of thousands of US military personnel came through each year, said Pipatpong Fakfare, an associate professor specialising in tourism at Bangkok University. In his assessment, the US military fundamentally shaped the city's identity, turning a small coastal settlement into a global destination for nightlife and entertainment in about 15 years.
Although the American troops left by the mid-1970s, the sex industry infrastructure continued to grow, with European tourists taking their place, and more recently waves of Chinese and Russian visitors. Sex work is illegal in Thailand, but authorities often turn a blind eye, according to Pattarachit Gozzoli, a sociologist at Mahidol University in Bangkok.
Pattaya's mayor, Poramase Ngampiches, has downplayed the city's past, saying there had been a recent crackdown on sex workers but denied it was directly linked to the US arrivals. Local police arrested 25 women for soliciting on the beachfront promenade a week before the ship arrived. The mayor said preparations would focus on safety and ensuring fair pricing for visiting sailors, so locals would not take advantage of them.
He added that the sailors had been banned from water sports such as jetskis, and from taking advantage of Thailand's lax cannabis laws, but encouraged them to enjoy the city's many other attractions, from shopping malls to religious sites. The visit highlights the long-standing relationship between the US military and the Thai city, while also raising questions about the welfare of service members deployed for extended periods
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