"Prostitution is illegal in Thailand"...Who knew?
No one can leave the ship unless they can correctly pronounce the author’s name.
I guess in Thailand there’s a succour born every minute.
"...Shore leave is typically staggered, meaning not all personnel will step off the vessels at the same time..."
Gee. I thought they just unleashed 5000 sailors from the carrier alone, sending them all ashore from the carrier and let them run wild!
Who writes this pap? Oh, someone for Reuters named "Panarat Thepgumpanat", that's who.
We lived in Bangkok from 61-63. Pattaya was a small beach town that was highly-favored by my high school classmates and me. I drove there on my motorcycle several dozen times, I think. Five bucks would get you a cottage for 2-3 days and nights.
Well. I have heard that liberty (not “shot leave” I NEVER heard anyone call it that) in today’s Navy is different than when I was in about 40 years ago.
Back then, we just got off the ship and ran away. Today, I am told you can only go ashore with an organized party. I get why with respect to terrorism and such, but things may have changed.
I was in Rhoda, Spain when an aircraft carrier docked. They totally trashed the hotel I was in. They kicked us all out of there.
There is no downside to liberty in Thailand. R U kidding me? That’s prime liberty.
There was the USA ship that was in Oslo for some time. One of the Norwegian airlines had an ad campaign when they left. “Missionary accomplished. See you in 9 months.”
Thailand is going to run out of beer.
since the early 80s, every visit consisted of “illegal activities” with 2 or 3 at a time. the best times were when you start with 1 or 2, and then go somewhere unfamiliar to all participants and have them pick out a number 2 or 3...
Sigh... gonna have to wait for my next life for the next trip!!
How many times will the sincere declaration “I love you long time” will be expressed within the first hour of the ship docking
“Risk” of sex tourism? This has only been a ritual for sailors on port calls since humens have put to sea. It’s almost as old as the world’s oldest profession itself.
“”Prostitution is illegal in Thailand”...Who knew?”
They know. But they were making huge dollars in it during the vietnam era and after. It is openly solicited, and nobody cares it is there and thriving. It is also a big sex slavery and trafficing area. And, also illegal, is porn but it is made and sold internationally in Thailand ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of Thai baht per month, while the broader commercial sex and entertainment sector is worth billions of dollars. I don’t see a sense of urgency here to stop it. Money talks...
wy69
feint
Pattaya is a great liberty port. I loved it. It’s also a major European vacation destination (make your own conclusions about that). Also, on most ships, out of a 4 day stay everyone gets 3 days off, but not necessarily in succession. A percentage of the crew must be on board at all times.
When you go down that one alley that has clubs named Boy Toys, Boys Boys Boys and The Cockpit leave immediately. I didn’t have to go inside to find out why. I just turned around and got out of there immediately.
Not that I ever did it but we were warned that we could be prosecuted by the US for participating in sex trafficking if we hired whores on OCONUS TDYs. The “good ol’ days” are over.
When I saw the destination the first thing I did was to look and see if this was a Bee article. I’ve been TDY to Pattaya a few times and IYKYK.
There will be 5,000 doses of clap.