Thai police deploy high-tech patrol vehicle to boost security during US Navy shore leave
Thai police have deployed a high-tech patrol vehicle as thousands of US Navy personnel arrived at the debauched tourist hotspot Pattaya for shore leave.
The Tourist Police sent a Command and Control Operation Centre (CCOC) Mobile microbus to the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya as the first batch of American troops arrived in the city on September 2.
The high-tech vehicle will act as a mobile command hub during the visit, allowing officers to monitor crowds, respond to emergencies and coordinate with other police units in real time.
Its AI-enabled cameras scan crowds and can match faces against police databases to identify wanted suspects and missing persons.
Local officials were ramping up security as the USS Abraham Lincoln docked in Thailand, bringing some 5,000 sailors into the 'Sin City' - a popular depraved 'rest and relaxation' spot for US troops since the Vietnam War.
Businesses across Pattaya are now anticipating a major economic boost from the influx, with spending expected to reach hundreds of millions of baht.
Hotels, restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues are all seen to benefit while the troops remain in the city until September 6.
Officials had also launched a prostitution crackdown in bustling red-light districts ahead of the aircraft carrier's port call, arresting around 50 sex workers.
They insisted that prostitution remains illegal under local law, despite it happening openly across the country and being one of Pattaya's main draws.
The USS Lincoln is one of the US Navy's largest warships, with a crew of roughly 5,000.
It was sent to the South China Sea in November last year before being rerouted to the Middle East, where it supported the US war against Iran, spending a record of more than 250 days uninterrupted time at sea.
However, the marathon deployment has reportedly eroded morale and mental health.
Rear Admiral Robert E. Loughran, commander of Carrier Strike Group 3, said the shore leave provided a 'well-deserved opportunity for our Sailors and Marines to rest and recharge'.
Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1950s and 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand while fighting Communism in Vietnam. Rural families are said to have even dressed their sons as women to cash in on the gold rush.
The handful of bars in the coastal town quickly grew and it is now the world's biggest sex holiday destination, with round-the-clock prostitution and drugs - a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah rife with crime and debauchery.
Government chiefs have attempted to clean up the city but regular violence, depravity and claims of corruption continue to blight its reputation.
