The USS Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, docked at Laem Chabang port in Thailand on Wednesday after 286 consecutive days at sea — a modern-day record for a US naval vessel — giving its nearly 5,000 sailors and Marines their first shore leave in nine months. Laem Chabang is a deep-water port in Chonburi province, roughly 150 kilometres southeast of Bangkok and close to the beach resort of Pattaya, a city long associated with US military rest-and-recreation visits dating back to the Vietnam War era.

The carrier departed San Diego in November 2025 for what was planned as a four-to-six-month assignment in the Pacific and South China Sea. It was diverted to the Arabian Sea after the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran in late February, where it participated in naval blockade operations and combat strikes. The deployment stretched to nearly ten months, drawing scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers in Washington who raised concerns over reported food shortages, broken plumbing, mental health crises and attempted suicides among the crew. The acting Navy Secretary dismissed those characterisations, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied that conditions had deteriorated to a critical level. The Lincoln has since been relieved in the Middle East by the USS George Washington.

Rear Admiral Robert Loughran, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3, called the deployment