Kittyhawk

[johng]

A GoGo dancer tha I know,said she had to do overtime from today...because the American Navy had arrived

[barryofthailand]

A GoGo dancer tha I know,said she had to do overtime from today...because the American Navy had arrived

Thats true the troops were arriving by the bus load this morning. They get a briefing in a secured area next to the Hardrock Hotel.

Barry

[cejmcq]

From 1993 until about 2002, I recall that the US sailor boys and their ships moored in Pattaya Bay frequently...maybe twice a year. Then their visits stopped. This might be folk lore but does anyone know if it's true that the reason for the disappearance of these flotillas from Pattaya Bay was because the Governor of Chonburi had the bright idea of charging a 500 baht per head landing charge everytime one of the sailor boys landed at the old pier? The admiral at the time (and I think the last major ship to vist Pattaya Bay was the USS Kitty Hawk), or whoever was in charge of the flotilla/fleet, said something like "Bugger this for a game of soldiers (or sailors)" and pulled up the anchors and left for Singapore never to return to Pattaya Bay.

Since the USNS Cole incident in Yemen, and of course 9/11, the Navy has become much stricter with what they call "force protection". Any Navy or auxiliary ships whether anchored or at a pier must have armed picket boats serving as protection. It doesn't matter where in the world. The rules are very complex and most ordinary ports aren't capable of providing the level of protection the regs require. I suspect this is why we haven't seen any US vessels moored off of Pattaya. I heard Sattahip and or Lam Chabang, Thai Navy vessels may be providing the picket boat protection.