Buses carrying crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier streamed into Thailand’s seaside resort city of Pattaya on Thursday, as part of a port call after a lengthy deployment to the Middle East.
Read moreUSS Lincoln carrier docks near Thailand’s Pattaya resort after nine months at sea
The Lincoln was supporting the US-Israeli war against Iran, and its deployment included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 260 days. Its lengthy deployment drew concerns last month about deteriorating mental health among the crew, including reported attempted suicides, as well as shortages of key food supplies aboard.
The Navy downplayed any problems, and US President Donald Trump maintained that the deployment was “not nearly long enough”.
The ship has been deployed for a total of 286 days, according to the US Embassy in Bangkok. Its total uninterrupted time at sea before Wednesday’s arrival in Chonburi province was 264 days.
The ship is expected to depart Thailand this weekend and continue its journey back to the US.
Pattaya draws in huge crowds of foreign tourists, both for its beach resorts and its nightlife. The seaside city has come under heavy scrutiny for its widespread sex tourism industry.
Thai authorities launched a crackdown on sex workers ahead of the ship’s visit, although they denied it was linked to the sailors’ arrival.
Shore leave
After clambering down from buses, laden with luggage, several service members told the Associated Press they were excited to be in Thailand.
Vendors and travel agents gathered outside the Hard Rock Hotel, the designated pickup and drop-off point for troops travelling from the Lincoln, which is docked nearby at Laem Chabang port.
They swarmed service members as they arrived, offering a range of souvenirs and services. Many sailors waved them away while waiting for their rides.
Two other ships from the Lincoln’s strike group are docked elsewhere in Thailand, with the destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. at Chonburi’s Sriracha port and the cruiser USS Robert Smalls in Map Ta Phut in neighbouring Rayong province.
A-ngoon Sombat travelled 200 kilometres between Pattaya and the central province of Ayutthaya to sell colourful braided bracelets to the visiting crew, as she does every time she hears a US ship is coming for a port call in Chonburi province.
She set up opposite the hotel entrance and had managed to make some sales, but said she is still unsure if business will be good this week.
“There are many vendors around. It’s really up to how lucky each of us are,” she said.
Dozens of service members could be spotted strolling around Pattaya’s Terminal 21 mall with shopping bags in their hands as the afternoon sun was blazing outside.
A 20-year-old serving as a navigator aboard the Petersen, who declined to give his name because he was told not to speak to media while ashore, said the morale among his crew members was really high now that they had arrived in Thailand.
The sailor said it was his first deployment for the US Navy. He said it was a bit of an ordeal but he was happy to finally be on his way home.
He declined to comment when asked about the reports about the conditions on the Lincoln.
Other service members seem to have been less restrained.
Two sailors were sent back to the ship after a drunken altercation, Thai police said Friday.
Police were alerted to a «small scuffle» involving the sailors in the early hours of Thursday near Pattaya’s nightlife hotspot Walking Street, city police chief Colonel Anek Srathongyoo told AFP.
«The sailors were drunk and they were fighting, making loud noise,» he said.
US sailors report dire conditions as replacement carrier heads to Middle East
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
He described the incident as «trivial» and said local residents had only called police to prevent it from escalating.
The unidentified sailors were not charged as «they did not violate any Thai law», Anek said.
The US Navy sent the pair back to the ship, he added.
The police chief said there had been no other notable incidents since the Lincoln docked, and one Pattaya masseuse said it had been calmer than previous military port calls.
‘Engineering marvel’
A spot just outside the Laem Chabang port had turned into a small attraction by Wednesday evening, as people gathered to catch a glimpse of the Lincoln.
People arrived by car and motorcycle to peer through a mesh fence at the ship, which is as long as about three American football fields. They took photos and videos, excitedly chatted with strangers about their chance to see the vessel.
American Keith Eldridge, who has lived in Thailand for five years, travelled from the neighbouring province of Chachoengsao just to see the ship. He was too late to catch the Lincoln docking but found the viewing spot through a recommendation from other enthusiasts he met along the way.
He said it was impressive for him to get to lay his eyes on this “engineering marvel”.
“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 said.
The Lincoln’s commanding officer, Captain Dan Keeler, said the ship will be heading home soon, but may make further supply stops. He declined to comment on the exact date the strike group is expected back in the US.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
Fuente:
Leer la noticia original
