Thai city beckons US Navy sailors

There is no getting around the fact that Thailand’s seaside resort of Pattaya has a lingering reputation for sex tourism, even though that is only part of the story for the city that is an expected shore leave destination of crew members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Pattaya, about 100km southeast of Bangkok, is where many of the 5,000 or so sailors and Marines in the Lincoln’s strike group are expected to visit for some rest and recuperation this week after the big ship’s tour of duty in the Middle East.

They would be following in the wake of millions of other tourists, including a significant number of US military personnel who take part every year in major land and sea exercises nearby with their Thai counterparts.

Social media ahead of the Lincoln’s visit have been awash with jibes about lusty sailors, but recent visitors say the development of more family-friendly attractions makes the new Pattaya overshadow its former seedy self.

Many US Navy ships dock at nearby deep-water facilities such as Laem Chabang Port and the Sattahip Royal Thai Navy Base, both less than an hour away by road.

Shore leave spending boosts the local economy, and mission duties often include community outreach in and around the city, such as specialized medical care for villagers or putting in volunteer time at orphanages.

However, when hundreds or thousands of sailors have a chance to enjoy some onshore liberty, the US Navy deploys members of its shore patrol to work side by side with Thai police to defuse any trouble.

Navy personnel are likely to have been reminded that, although rarely enforced, the law in Thailand technically bans prostitution and paying for sex is a punishable offense under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the legal framework for the US armed forces.

The military connection goes back at least to the Vietnam War era, when at its height, 40,000 to 50,000 US service personnel were stationed in Thailand, largely in support of the conflict’s air operations. Bases used by US forces dotted Thailand and all attracted their share of nightlife activities.

Pattaya was close to the Sattahip naval base and the Thai Navy’s U-Tapao airfield, which hosted US Air Force B-52s.

Elizabeth Becker, author of Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism, wrote that US soldiers during the Vietnam War flocked to Pattaya, a once-quiet fishing village, “and it turned into a raunchy seaside playground.”

The military facilities brought a continuous stream of personnel through Pattaya, while the 1966 Entertainment Places Act created a legal gray area allowing the sex trade to operate semiopenly in bars and massage parlors — as something of a private arrangement between customer and employee — despite a 1960 law criminalizing prostitution.

Pattaya’s infrastructure of go-go clubs and other entertainment venues was then marketed to travelers arriving in greater numbers due to cheaper air travel and a boom in package tours. Sex tourism became entrenched.

Pattaya underwent another evolution in the 1990s, with a new wave of tourists coming from what had been the Soviet Union after communism there collapsed in late 1991.

Embracing modern globalized tourism, the newcomers came on direct charter flights to the civilian airport at U-Tapao, benefiting from a 30-day visa-free agreement.

Signs in Cyrillic sprouted around Pattaya as businesses catered to this new clientele.

Russians were not the only people calling Pattaya their home away from home.

The agreeable climate and allegedly laissez-faire attitude of local law enforcement attracted fugitives from justice and criminals from all over the world, including Russian, eastern and western European gangsters, as well as drug-dealing motorcycle gangs from Australia.

Pattaya has tried with some success this century to rebrand itself as a family destination, with parks, malls and luxury resorts largely in surrounding areas that attract large numbers of Thais and visitors from other Asian nations.

A water park is themed around Cartoon Network shows. The Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden displays vast stretches of flora and hosts cultural shows.

Travelers can still get a taste of old Pattaya with a nocturnal stroll down “Walking Street,” at the heart of the city’s nightlife district.

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