The US aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush arrived off Thailand’s resort island of Phuket on Sunday with about 4,800 personnel aboard for a rest-and-recreation break after months of supporting US operations in the Middle East.
The Nimitz-class carrier had been operating in the Arabian Sea during the conflict with Iran, according to multiple media reports.
The carrier will anchor offshore, while crew members are expected to come ashore through Phuket Deep Sea Port and spend time on the popular southern resort island from October 4 to 9, local media reported.
A local mayor had estimated that each US service member from the Lincoln could spend up to 3,000 baht ($89) per day during the visit. Thailand is the United States’ only treaty partner in mainland Southeast Asia.
The visit follows a five-day port call by the USS Abraham Lincoln at Laem Chabang in eastern Thailand last month, with about 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard.
The nuclear-powered Lincoln was involved in the US naval blockade and combat operations in the war with Iran and, according to Democratic lawmakers, set a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea.
“We would like to thank the people of Thailand for their incredible hospitality,” US Navy Captain Dan Keeler, the Abraham Lincoln’s commanding officer, said in a statement after the carrier departed in early September.
Busloads of sailors and Marines wearing civilian clothes, many smiling and waving, started arriving at a hotel in the resort city of Pattaya, about 150 km (93 miles) southeast of Bangkok, shortly after their ships docked.