{"id":1185636,"date":"2026-09-04T07:47:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1185636\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T07:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:47:17","slug":"pedicures-and-a-pair-of-socks-sailors-from-uss-abraham-lincoln-go-wild-in-party-resort-of-pattaya-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1185636\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedicures and a pair of socks: sailors from USS Abraham Lincoln go wild in party resort of Pattaya | Thailand"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday morning in Pattaya\u2019s Colour Nail salon there isn\u2019t a spare burgundy lounger to be seen as sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln \u2013 male and female alike \u2013 settle in for pedicures to take the edge off a gruelling deployment.<\/p>\n

More sailors are waiting outside for their turn and Arisa Suekkanya, a worker at the salon, says she is \u201cexcited\u201d the US military<\/a> chose Thailand as their first port of call after a record uninterrupted 286 days at sea.<\/p>\n

The aircraft carrier has been plagued by reports of deteriorating living conditions<\/a> and poor mental health onboard<\/a>, including attempted suicides, making headlines around the world and provoking criticism of Donald Trump\u2019s war against Iran.<\/p>\n

The ship\u2019s captain admitted to a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables but said reports about the living conditions were largely exaggerated<\/a>. Some of the thousands of crew gave their view while on leave.<\/p>\n

Arisa Suekkanya from the Colour Nail salon in Pattaya Photograph: Natasha May\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Adam*, who is on his first deployment, says the living situation is like \u201cbeing stuck in your bedroom with all your family\u201d but that building relationships with fellow crew and \u201cfinding your people\u201d made the difficulties worthwhile. The Guardian has chosen to change the names of the sailors spoken to because they were told not to speak to the media about conditions onboard.<\/p>\n

For him, the food was the hardest thing to swallow. \u201cI almost choked on this many times,\u201d he says, as he describes eating \u201cuncooked beef\u201d and sliced up, uncooked potato.<\/p>\n

A supplied picture of food served on board the USS Abraham Lincoln on its most recent tour during the Iran war. Photograph: Supplied<\/p>\n

According to Adam, the decline in living standards was down to the battle conditions imposed during Operation Epic Fury rather than the unprecedented length of deployment.<\/p>\n

Another crew member, Marco* agrees, saying there was a necessary deterioration during this \u201cbattle rhythm\u201d period when it would have put them at risk to restock.<\/p>\n

Trent* admits the hardest part of the deployment was \u201cpushing through, keeping the mentality\u201d despite the hardships.<\/p>\n

Dane* says \u201ca load came off my shoulders\u201d when he stepped on dry land again after his first deployment. He acknowledged it was \u201ctough but we had a job to do.\u201d He said that on the previous evening, \u201cI ate to my heart\u2019s content. Me and Thai food might be best friends after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another serviceman, who did not give his name, hinted at the toll the long deployment had taken: \u201cSome people adapt to it but not everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boom time for the big brands<\/p>\n

Pattaya is a city well known for its red light district and colourful nightlife, but for many, the desires were more prosaic.<\/p>\n

Tim* was in the Vans store in the mall on Thursday. \u201cIt\u2019s the simple stuff like new socks\u201d he was after, holding the pair he was about to purchase.<\/p>\n

Another sailor, David*, has bought his wife a Hello Kitty soft toy from H&M. He says it was his fourth deployment, and agrees this would have been quite long for sailors on their first.<\/p>\n

At least for Adam, the past few months have made him all the more grateful for his first night ashore he orders two burgers at Burger King and makes plans to order a tailored suit and explore Thailand\u2019s east coast.<\/p>\n

Pedestrians walk past a sign welcoming the arrival of US service personnel in Pattaya. Photograph: Anthony Wallace\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Many local businesses have put up signs welcoming the American visitors, offering incentives like tailors Tito Fashion advertising \u201cspecially for US Navy ready in 24 hours\u201d, while Thai restaurant Imm-Oon Na offered 10% off for anyone presenting a valid military ID.<\/p>\n

But the draw of the familiar American brands also proved irresistible. In the mall, the likes of Nike, Victoria\u2019s Secret and Starbucks all reported a spike in sales.<\/p>\n

The town is hoping the Lincoln\u2019s crew will provide an economic boost. The war in the Middle East has created a downturn in tourism in Thailand<\/a>, and the rainy season has slowed things, too.<\/p>\n

Pattaya\u2019s mayor, Poramet Ngampichet, says if each American spends $100-150 per day the visit could generate about $100m Thai baht ($3m).<\/p>\n

However, not all businesses can take full advantage of the 5,000 sailors, who have not been able to spend money for nearly 10 months. Emma Moontee who runs a gift stall at a night market, says she has only sold one fridge magnet souvenir to a sailor, but hoped there would be more.<\/p>\n

The crew has also been advised not to go to the beer bars along Soi 6 after sunset, one of the most infamous areas of the town\u2019s red light district where bar girls line the street, and can occasionally be seen physically pulling in male tourists.<\/p>\n

Many local businesses have put up signs welcoming the American visitors. Photograph: Thananuwat Srirasant\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, the main strip \u2013 known as Walking Street \u2013 is not off limits. It is dense with clubs and go go bars featuring pole dancing girls. They are largely private from the outside street view and passers by.<\/p>\n

Wittaya Phoobantad, who works at Poker Bar on the beach front, about a 10-minute walk from Soi 6, says: \u201cYou can see [sailors] walking around but because Soi 6 is banned most of them don\u2019t come in, just go direct to Walking Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Walking Street a massive neon sign has been built at its entrance saying: \u201cPattaya City is pleased to welcome USS Abraham Lincoln carrier and its personnel\u201d. Venues like the Sapphire Club offered 10% off to US service members.<\/p>\n

Pattana Prasomsup, who works at M\u2019s Mojito, says the 10 crew who visited the bar on Wednesday night provided a \u201cgood boost\u201d but noted they appeared quite cautious about interacting with bar girls.<\/p>\n

Pattaya is familiar with the US military, who experts agree was the dominant influence in creating the sex tourism industry \u2013 and the modern city that developed around it.<\/p>\n

Wittaya Phoobantad, left, and Wanthana Pota, who work at Poker Bar overlooking Pattaya\u2019s beachfront. Photograph: Natasha May\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

The once quiet fishing village was drastically transformed in the space of 15 years after becoming an official R&R destination for US soldiers during the Vietnam war, causing a boom in hotels, massage parlours and bars, where heavy drinking and paying for female companionship became the norm.<\/p>\n

Most of the workers in the sex tourism industry are not local but have themselves migrated to Pattaya, commonly from Isan \u2013 Thailand\u2019s poorest and least economically developed region in the north-east \u2013 as well as neighbouring Laos and Myanmar or further afield.<\/p>\n

Back in the mall, Puangbubpha Duangsri, who works at American Eagle, says in the off season they\u2019d usually make 70,000 Thai baht in a day but on Wednesday they made over 200,000 baht after the sailors arrived. By lunchtime on Thursday they had already made over 100,000 baht.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan they stay an extra week?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

* Name has been changed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Thursday morning in Pattaya\u2019s Colour Nail salon there isn\u2019t a spare burgundy lounger to be seen as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1185637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":["post-1185636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-news","tag-world"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117211669797043259","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1185637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}