The Americans are back

The USS Abraham Lincoln has returned American troops to Pattaya, a city whose most notorious identity grew alongside the U.S. military presence in Thailand. About 5,000 Marines and other service members are spending time ashore after the carrier docked near the coastal city.

At the Tahitian Queen, Pattaya’s oldest go-go bar, the arrival had not yet made much difference. Woody, the 49-year-old manager, said the bar had not seen any of the troops. On stage, women in bikinis danced to rock music in the dim afternoon interior, a scene the article presents as part of the city’s long association with American servicemen.

This is not an ordinary port call, the article argues, after the Abraham Lincoln spent nine months at sea during the Iran war, three months longer than planned. American media reported psychological problems among crew members living in cramped conditions. At a news conference after the ship arrived, Captain Dan Keeler said the carrier looked like “a dirty car in a parking lot,” but insisted reports about conditions had been exaggerated. He said only fruit and vegetables had become scarce, while toothpaste and soap were rationed.

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We have not seen any of them yet.

Pattaya’s reputation gives the visit another charge. The city is known for the exchange of Western currency for sex, even though prostitution remains illegal in Thailand and official figures for the number of sex workers do not exist. International media arrived hoping to capture images of the soldiers in the “den of iniquity.”

The article traces that reputation to the Vietnam War. The United States viewed Thailand as a friendly, firmly anti-communist country after the Second World War, and Pattaya became a base for American troops. When the Tahitian Queen opened in 1978, the beachfront promenade was still unpaved and Pattaya remained a sleepy seaside town. The article’s central point is stark: the city’s transformation, and changes across Thailand, began with the Americans.

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A dirty car in a parking lot.