US Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln Leaves Thailand After Crew Shore Leave

After five days ashore in Thailand, the USS Abraham Lincoln put back to sea, carrying about 5,000 sailors and Marines. The US aircraft carrier left the port of Laem Chabang, in the country’s south, at around 11 a.m. local time, AFP reporters said.

The crew had spent several days in Pattaya after nearly 10 months at sea. The port call followed US media reports describing shortages of food, defective sanitation facilities and a lack of hygiene products aboard the ship. Those reports also referred to intense psychological pressure among crew members and alleged suicide attempts.

Thai police deployed substantial forces during the sailors’ time ashore. Pattaya police chief Anek Srathongyoo said the visit passed without major incidents. “Everything went well,” he said, adding that there were no arrests or disputes apart from a confrontation between Americans on the first day. The US Navy sent two sailors back to the Lincoln after they fought near Pattaya’s Walking Street entertainment district.

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Everything went well.

Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches said the shore leave generated an estimated $3 million in revenue. He also said the city benefited from sales of other goods to the ship, including toothpaste worth millions of baht.

The carrier left San Diego in November 2025 for deployment in the South China Sea and was later sent to a crisis region before the Iran war began in late February. Reports about conditions aboard the ship intensified criticism in the United States of the deployment. Pattaya, once used by US troops as a rest destination during the Vietnam War, remains known for its beaches and nightlife, as well as its notoriety for sex tourism.

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that other goods such as toothpaste worth millions of baht were sold to the ship