Shopping for socks, not sex: How 5,000 US sailors unwound in Pattaya

Pattaya prepared to welcome thousands of US sailors after 286 days at sea with authorities cracking down on sex workers. What followed was a surprisingly subdued four-day port visit marked by shopping, Thai food, bar hopping, and just a few drunken brawls. They shopped for socks, and not sex.

Thai authorities cracked down on Pattaya's sex workers ahead of the arrival of 5,000 American defence personnel in USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, and two warships. The crackdown was due to fears that the sailors, pilots and Marines, many of whom had spent the better part of a year at sea, could fuel the sex trade. While there were some drunken street brawls, the soldiers shopped for socks than sex.

The USS Lincoln-led strike group docked in the Thai city, famous for its party scene and infamous for prostitution, on September 2. The personnel left on Sunday (September 6), with Thai people saying that this might have been the best-behaved group of American servicemen in living memory.

For these service members, the four-day stay offered a chance to do what many had been unable to do for the past nine months. Shop, hit the bars and dance clubs and, in some cases, get involved in brawls.

Pattaya, once a small fishing port, grew into one of Thailand’s hottest vacation destinations partly because of US servicemen seeking shore leave during the Vietnam War (1955–1975). But the city also developed a less-than-glamorous reputation as a hub of prostitution, which, although officially banned, has long flourished in the coastal resort on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Thailand.

That reputation helps explain why Thai authorities announced a crackdown on the city's sprawling sex industry ahead of the carrier's visit, detaining at least 40 people as part of the drive. US service members, meanwhile, were barred from visiting some of Pattaya’s infamous red-light districts, including Soi 6, as well as cannabis outlets, drug stores and certain water-sports venues.

US PERSONNEL PRIORITISED SHOPPING, FRESH FOOD, NEW CLOTHES

While Pattaya is best known for its glitzy nightlife and seedy red-light districts, the nearly 5,000 American personnel appeared to have far more mundane priorities. The BBC and The Guardian reported that many service members, upon coming ashore, made a beeline for the city's shopping malls and restaurants.

Several told The Guardian that after weeks of subsisting on meals including "uncooked beef" and "sliced up, uncooked potato", they had developed a newfound appreciation for Thai cuisine. "I ate to my heart's content. I and Thai food might be best friends after this," one sailor told the newspaper.

Similarly, one sailor, speaking to The New York Times (NYT), told the Daily that after being "offered up a monotony of carbs" for weeks, what she was looking forward to in Pattaya was "a salad, something green and fresh".

For others, shore leave meant catching up on some basic comforts. One sailor reportedly told her mother that her three goals ashore were a manicure, a pedicure and a massage. Others used their time to buy new clothes and everyday essentials that had run short aboard the Abraham Lincoln.

"It's the simple stuff like new socks", one service member told The Guardian after buying a pair.

Pattaya's shopping malls also enjoyed a windfall from the influx of US service members. One American Eagle outlet's daily sales jumped from around 70,000 baht to as much as 200,000 baht last week, reported The Guardian.

Bangkok-based online news portal Thai Examiner reported that other retailers, including Nike, Victoria's Secret and Starbucks, also saw stronger business as American personnel spent on food, clothes, shoes, gifts and souvenirs.

The spending offered a welcome boost to Pattaya itself, which had seen tourist arrivals plunge following the outbreak of the US-Iran war in February.

AMERICAN SAILORS THRONGED BARS, NIGHTCLUBS ALONG PATTAYA'S WALKING STREET

Many of Pattaya's well known nightclubs and bars were reported as putting out all the stops to attract the thousands of American personnel on leave. While American personnel had been barred from most of Pattaya's red-light districts, the city's largest such area, Walking Street had remained open for business.

The New York Times reported The Sapphire Club, an adult entertainment venue, as having dispatched "three women in strapless black bodysuits to hold placards offering discounts for those with valid US military ID". NBC News, meanwhile, reported that nightclubs and bars had deployed touts across the area with placards and pamphlets to entice American personnel.

American personnel, many of whom are yet to reach legal drinking age in the US, were seen enjoying beers and downing shots in bars and nightclubs, often in the company of women who had come from countries as far away as Uzbekistan and Uganda, reported NBC News.

The NYT reported that as some sailors and Marines strolled or sat on the kerb reeling from too much to drink, they were watched by an eagle-eyed group of police officers deployed in larger numbers than usual to keep the peace. There were also volunteer officers, one of whom, ironically, was an Iranian national who had lived in Pattaya for at least a decade.

USS LINCOLN'S PATTAYA PORT VISIT MOSTLY PEACEFUL

Remarkably, despite the thousands of American personnel roaming the town, except for a couple of untoward incidents, the entire port call was overall peaceful.

One US service member was seen being taken away in a golf cart by colleagues and members of the Thai police late on September 3, after they appeared inebriated and needed help walking from another service member.

Elsewhere, police were reported by the Bangkok Post as saying there was a "trivial" incident the same day after a drunken brawl erupted between two sailors. They were sent back to the Lincoln without being arrested or charged, police said.

Speaking to news agency AFP, police chief Anek Srathongyoo later stated that there had been no other notable incidents since.

The relatively peaceful visit might in part have been due to the restrictions imposed on the service members. They were instructed to stay away from Pattaya's extensive sex industry and prohibited areas such as Soi 6. One bar worker told The Guardian that the sailors and Marines "appeared quite cautious about interacting with bar girls".

There's also the fact that after 286 days sailing the high seas, many were just plain exhausted to do anything else.

"Despite the beach town's reputation, many from the Lincoln said they had no interest in exploring Play Girlz, KINK or the Harem Ultra go-go club," reported NYT, adding that the service members were instead dinning out at the Hilton and booking rooms at the Hard Rock Cafe to spend a night or two away from the ship.

For many American personnel, the hardest part of their current deployment had been enduring the prolonged confinement aboard the Abraham Lincoln even as the ship seemed to come apart around them. A sailor told The Guardian that stepping foot on dry land felt like "a load coming off my shoulders".

The brief Pattaya stopover therefore became less about the debauchery some had predicted and more about the simple pleasures of being ashore, those being fresh food, clean clothes, shopping, a few drinks and, for some, a much-needed night of sleep.

As the USS Abraham Lincoln and its escort group departed Thailand, the carrier began the long journey back to San Diego, California. Returning home, there still remains a long wait for the sailors and Marines on board.

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