USS Abraham Lincoln sailors take shore leave in Thailand after 250 days at sea

Sailors from the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln have arrived in the Thai resort city of Pattaya for a brief period of shore leave after a deployment lasting nearly nine months. The carrier had most recently been operating in the Middle East, where it took part in the operation against Iran — a mission that has drawn criticism back in the US over conditions faced by the crew during the long deployment.

On Wednesday night, Pattaya's well-known Walking Street was decorated for the occasion, with a large illuminated sign welcoming the ship's crew. By midnight, some of the younger sailors were visibly intoxicated, needing to lean on one another for support. The city's small red-light district, Soi 6, was declared off-limits to the crew, disappointing bar workers who had hoped to benefit from the sailors' months of unspent wages. The broader conflict in the Middle East has also hurt Pattaya's tourism industry, with many visitors choosing to stay away.

Crew members were largely reluctant to discuss conditions aboard ship, with many referring questions to media officers or declining to comment altogether. One older crew member said the deployment had felt long and monotonous, noting that even a large vessel feels cramped when shared with thousands of people, and that he had lost track of exactly how long they had been at sea. Asked how long it would take to get home to California, he simply said it would take too long.

Shakeira Fairfax, mother of 25-year-old crew member Jada Fairfax, told Reuters that morale had dipped at times over recent months, describing the period following the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East as uncertain and frightening. Also present in Pattaya were crew members wearing shirts marked SLG, for Shore Liaison Group, tasked with maintaining discipline ashore and coordinating with local authorities. US Naval Attache Kristopher Robinson declined to detail specific restrictions placed on sailors, saying only that the aim was to give the crew as much rest as possible while conducting themselves in line with US law, naval regulations and Thai law.