The USS Abraham Lincoln has docked at a Thailand resort town following an extended deployment of more than 200 days in which they faced grueling conditions.
The US Navy aircraft carrier stopped in the resort city of Pattaya on Wednesday, where the 5,000 sailors and Marines on board will have the chance to unwind before heading back to the United States, the Navy announced.
‘Our arrival in Laem Chabang provides a well-deserved opportunity for our Sailors and Marines to rest and recharge,’ Rear Admiral Robert Loughran, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3, said in a statement.
‘It also underscores the strong and enduring partnership and alliance between the United States and Thailand.’
Officials in the city are now hoping it will become an ‘important vacation spot’ for US service members in the future, Newsweek reports.
‘We welcome more visits of the troops in the future, whether for a drill or a vacation, before they go back to the US,’ Mayor Poramet Ngampichet is said to have told American military officials.
The trip marks a much-needed break for the American servicemembers, who had been at sea since November 21 amid the war in Iran.
But city officials have also implemented a series of rules for the sailors after speaking with American military officials.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is pictured arriving at Laem Chabang Port on Wednesday following its extended deployment to the Middle East
Pattaya had started off as a fishing village, but became a tourism center during the Vietnam War, when US servicemembers were stationed nearby
Pattaya had started off as a fishing village but became a tourism center during the Vietnam War, when US servicemembers were stationed nearby.
It has since developed a reputation for sex tourism, but ahead of the ship’s arrival on Wednesday, authorities in the city launched a crackdown on prostitution.
Police raids over the weekend saw 40 to 50 people detained with additional patrols in place for the main beachfront and nightlife district, the Independent reports.
The mayor has denied that the crackdown on sex work was related to the arrival of US servicemembers.
But under an agreement with the US, service members docked at Pattaya are barred from engaging in certain recreational activities like parasailing and cannabis use, which was legalized in Thailand in 2022, according to the Guardian.
And while famed nightlife area Walking Street will be opened to sailors, they must leave by 2am.
Any US service member found violating Thai law will be prosecuted accordingly, City Police Chief Anek Srathongyoo vowed.
Officials in the city are now hoping it will become an ‘important vacation spot’ for US service members in the future
Business owners in Pattaya eagerly awaited the arrival of the US sailors
Unlike in the United States, vapes and e-cigarettes are illegal in Thailand, and anyone caught possessing one can face up to five years in prison.
The country also has strict laws against insulting the country’s monarchy – which could see violators sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In preparation for the deluge of US servicemembers, authorities in Pattaya have stepped up security, adding more police officers in popular areas along the beach and in the bustling downtown area.
Meanwhile, business owners across the city eagerly awaited the arrival of the sailors, with some businesses displaying banners reading: ‘Welcome all US military personnel. Thank you for your service’ and ‘All Welcome’ next to a silhouette of the aircraft carrier.
The ship’s arrival in Thailand comes just weeks after the USS George Washington was forced to abandon its post in the Pacific Ocean to relieve the strained sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The sailors onboard the Lincoln had reportedly experienced horrific conditions that led some service members to experience suicidal ideation due to dwindling morale.
The wife of one of the sailors even described the ship as a ‘floating metal prison’ with appalling conditions as she slammed President Donald Trump for downplaying family members’ concerns.
The unidentified woman said that her husband described the experience aboard the aircraft carrier stationed in the Middle East as ‘the worst deployment he’s ever been on.’
‘This is not his first deployment. This is not his first time being out there, and he is saying that it is the worst deployment that he’s ever been on. And he also says that his shipmates say the same,’ she told CNN‘s Jake Tapper.
Sailors have complained about the meager portions they were receiving onboard the ship
Since the beginning of the war in Iran, reports have surfaced of food shortages and rationing aboard the Lincoln, accompanied by photographs of sailors’ meals.
‘It’s not just the quality; it’s the quantity,’ the sailor’s wife told the outlet. ‘It’s the rationing. The portions are awful, so it’s really not good.’
Remaining anonymous out of fear of retaliation against her husband, the woman added that her spouse, who she said is typically unaffected by work stressors, ‘feels himself being angrier and more frustrated.’
‘You’re stuck in a floating metal prison, essentially, in the middle of the water, eating prison-like food with the same people in the same bunk beds in the same small quarters for 200 days, 250 days, you start to go a little insane working 12 hours, getting four or five hours of sleep,’ she continued.
Sailors aboard the Lincoln are said to have endured moldy showers, broken toilets, laundry outages, food shortages and long stretches without hot water.
Some sailors even reportedly tried to jump ship amid the extended deployment, with one 19-year-old father-of-two now facing non-judicial punishment from the Trump administration for hurling himself overboard in an apparent attempt to drown.
Navy documents accuse the servicemember of ‘intentionally faking an illness or hurting themselves to avoid work, duty or service,’ while a separate charge claims he failed to report to his required place of duty during the mental-health crisis.
‘I think they’re insane for doing this to people who need mental help,’ the sailor’s wife told MS NOW. ‘Instead of giving them help, this is just another huge stressor.’
Crew members are pictured standing on the flight deck as the USS Abraham Lincoln approached Thailand on Wednesday
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier is pictured in April carrying out blockade operations in the Arabian Sea
His wife said he repeatedly requested paternity leave to meet his newborn daughter for the first time but was denied each time. His fate will be decided at a ‘captain’s mast,’ where his commanding officer could dock as much as half his pay, according to the charging documents.
The sailor was rescued after going overboard on August 3 and medically evacuated before returning to San Diego 10 days later, according to his wife.
He then spent five days at Naval Medical Center San Diego, known locally as Balboa, where staff monitored his vital signs but never had him evaluated by a psychiatrist or therapist, she said.
He was ordered back to work immediately after his release and did not receive his first therapy session until this Wednesday, nearly two weeks after arriving home.
The Navy is pursuing the case through non-judicial punishment, an internal disciplinary process generally used for lower-level misconduct that avoids a formal court-martial and criminal conviction.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers has demanded greater oversight and transparency over living conditions aboard the carrier.
