US aircraft carrier approaches Thai port after months at sea

LAEM CHABANG — A US aircraft carrier at the centre of controversy over conditions on board approached the Thai coast on Wednesday for its first port call in nine months. The 5,000 sailors and Marines on board the USS Abraham Lincoln, arriving from the war in the Middle East, are headed for the Thai resort of Pattaya, a rest-and-recreation stop for US troops since the Vietnam War. Tugs guided the huge nuclear-powered carrier, dozens of warplanes lined up on its flight deck, towards the port of Laem Chabang on Wednesday morning, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporters saw. An official in Pattaya…