Journalist Ian Birrell has written a first-hand account of Pattaya, the Thai resort city notorious for sex tourism, examining how it is grappling with its reputation even as evidence of exploitation remains visible on its streets. The report comes after the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, carrying 5,000 sailors, docked there following a 286-day deployment, drawing global media attention and prompting the city's mayor to insist Pattaya is now also a "family destination".

Pattaya, which grew from a fishing village into a hub for prostitution during the Vietnam War as US troops took R&R there, now has around 120,000 registered Thai residents, up to 70,000 foreign expats, and is reputed to host at least 60,000 sex workers. Birrell describes bars, massage parlours and street solicitation continuing largely unchecked despite a cosmetic clean-up before the sailors' arrival, and highlights two pending murder cases involving foreigners: Australian Simon Carman, 45, accused of strangling 17-year-old sex worker Tunchanok Donhomla, and a 21-year-old British woman arrested over the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend, reportedly from Stoke-on-Trent.