The US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has docked near Pattaya, Thailand, giving its nearly 5,000-strong crew their first port stop after a record 250 days continuously at sea. The visit matters both for the exhausted crew, who have faced reported hardships including food shortages and broken toilets, and for the Thai resort town, whose tourism-dependent economy has suffered amid regional disruption linked to the Iran conflict. It is thought to be the largest deployment of US personnel arriving straight from a war zone to Pattaya since the fall of Saigon in 1975.

The carrier left San Diego last November for what was meant to be a six-month Pacific deployment before being diverted to the Gulf after US and Israeli operations against Iran began in late February. Local businesses, including bar and shop owners on the city's famous Walking Street, are hoping sailors carrying months of unspent wages will boost trade. However, US and Thai authorities have placed several areas off-limits to servicemen and women, including the go-go bar district of Soi 6, cannabis shops and sea-sports venues, in an apparent effort to avoid the salacious headlines historically associated with the city.