Watch: Why US troops have a history in this raucous Thai city
Far from hitting the bars and fleshpots of the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, in their first hours onshore most of the nearly 5,000 sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln seemed determined to go shopping.
At the Hard Rock Hotel – one of two beachside hotels where they were able to stay off the ship – they hung around clutching their recent purchases. But perhaps, after a record 250 days confined inside a grey steel warship, the normality of a trip to the mall might have been just what they needed.
With their military haircuts, moustaches and navy t-shirts, they stood out against the usual Pattaya crowd in flip-flops and beachwear.
US sailors arrived in Thailand on Wednesday
Night, though, is when this resort city comes into its own, putting on a riotous spectacle of neon, noise and naughty bars.
Pattaya's tourism industry has been hit by conflict in the Middle East, where the USS Abraham Lincoln was last operating, with many of the tourists the city depends on choosing to stay at home.
Local establishments have been hoping American sailors, arriving with nine months of unspent salary while at sea, will provide a much-needed boost. On Wednesday night, the city's most famous promenade, Walking Street, was very much open to them, with a huge, illuminated sign at its entrance welcoming the crew of the US carrier.
They have, however, been reminded the sex industry is off-limits, as prostitution is technically illegal in Thailand.
But alcohol was flowing. By midnight some of the younger sailors were so inebriated they had to prop each other up. Others edged nervously into the red-lit caverns of the go-go bars, with their gyrating and barely-clothed pole dancers.
Bar owner Kanta Saenkla said she'd seen fewer sailors coming to her establishment compared to the past
Conversation over the pounding music was challenging. One older crew member told us they really needed the break.
"The news says we've been at sea for nine months. To be honest I've lost track of time," he said.
"It got boring. It's never big enough on board. It's big but it still feels like a boat, especially when you're sharing it with thousands of people." How long would it take them to get home to California? "Too long," he said.
Restaurant owner Kosol Homkhunthod said the American sailors had "created a buzz" in town and among his staff – business had been "really slow" lately.
