The USS Abraham Lincoln, a US aircraft carrier at the centre of a row over conditions on board after months at sea as part of Donald Trump’s war against Iran, has arrived off a Thai port.
Reports of deteriorating living conditions and poor mental health on the vessel, including attempted suicides, have made headlines around the world, provoking criticism of the president’s actions in the Middle East.
A heavy security presence was in force at Laem Chabang port near Pattaya, south of Bangkok, where the 5,000-strong crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln arrived on Wednesday morning after more than 270 days at sea.
The huge nuclear-powered ship left California in November 2025 for duty in the South China Sea and was rerouted to the Middle East before US-Israeli attacks on Iran that began six months ago.
The resort city of Pattaya, a rest-and-recreation destination for US troops since the Vietnam war, has stepped up security as it prepares to welcome the sailors and Marines.
The sailors will disembark in groups of approximately 50, according to police colonel Anek Srathongyoo, a superintendent of Pattaya city police station.
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 my opinion, it’s really the founding influence for the town. The US military turned a quiet fishing village into a global destination for an international nightlife and entertainment hub in about 15 years,” he said.
Pattaya is now hugely popular with foreign tourists, known for its beaches and a nightlife scene that has long drawn scrutiny over sex tourism.
Although the American troops left by the mid-70s, the sex industry infrastructure continued to grow, with European tourists taking their place, and more recently waves of Chinese and Russian visitors, Pipatpong said.
Sex work is illegal in Thailand, but authorities often turn a blind eye, said 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 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 buses had been arranged to transport the sailors between the ship and Pattaya until the carrier departs on Sunday.
Outside one bar, a sign said: “Welcome all US military personnel. Thank you for your service.”
Poramase said in a Facebook post: “They come to relax. Our preparations will focus on safety and ensuring fair pricing, so we don’t take advantage of them.”
He said they 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 malls to religious sites.
