US aircraft carrier leaves Thailand after five-day rest stop for crew

The USS Abraham Lincoln left Thailand on Sunday after giving its nearly 5,000 sailors five days ashore in Pattaya, a break that followed 286 days at sea and an unusually prolonged deployment that has stirred controversy in the United States.

The carrier departed Laem Chabang port at 11 a.m. local time, or 4 a.m. GMT, according to AFP journalists. Pattaya, about half an hour by car from the port, has long served as a rest destination for U.S. troops, dating back to the Vietnam War.

Security was tightened in the resort city before the sailors arrived. Police carried out operations against prostitution, although Pattaya’s mayor denied that the measures were connected to the military visit. Local police said the stop passed without major incidents. “Everything went well,” Pattaya police chief Anek Srathongyoo told AFP.

Srathongyoo said there had been no arrests or fights apart from an incident on the first day, when American sailors fought among themselves. The U.S. Navy sent two sailors back to the ship after an altercation while they were drunk early Thursday, he said.

The USS Abraham Lincoln left California in November 2025 for a mission in the South China Sea. It was later diverted to the Middle East before joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran triggered a regional war six months ago.

Democratic lawmakers in the United States have called for an investigation into life aboard the carrier following reports of possible food shortages, infrastructure problems and mental-health difficulties. Navy Times reported that at least two sailors may have attempted suicide by jumping overboard. Donald Trump played down those reports, as well as questions about the carrier’s unusually long deployment.

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Everything went well.