Top 10 20 List

Marines magazine wanted to know the best liberty location around the world, so we surveyed readers from our Web site, and watched as thousands responded with their favorite. Whether it was out in town or on the beach, Thailand was the spot that came out on top.

Top 20 Liberty Locations

  1. Phuket, Thailand - 382
  2. Oahu, Hawaii – 263
  3. Las Vegas, Nev. – 242
  4. Darwin, Australia – 202
  5. Tokyo, Japan – 175
  6. Palma De Mallorca, Spain – 168
  7. Tijuana, Mexico – 168
  8. Myrtle Beach, S.C. – 161
  9. Washington, D.C. – 143
  10. Clark Air Base, Philippines – 131
  11. Los Angeles, Calif. – 111
  12. New York, N.Y. – 109
  13. South Padre Island, Texas – 105
  14. Hong Kong – 96
  15. Cancun, Mexico – 96
  16. Miami, Fla. – 84
  17. Key West, Fla. – 74
  18. Naples, Italy – 70
  19. London, England – 56
  20. Berlin, Germany – 52

Rounding Out the Survey:

  1. New Orleans, La. – 52
  2. Athens, Greece – 49
  3. Moscow, Russia – 36
  4. Bahrain – 32
  5. St. Louis, Mo. – 31
Phuket, Thailand voted the best liberty location

Thailand lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, making it a natural gateway to Indochina and Southern China. The country is divided into four regions: the mountains and forests in the North, the rice fields in the Central Plains, the farm lands in the East and the tropical islands and long coastline in the South. Most Marines familiar with Thailand were introduced to the country through Exercise Cobra Gold. As the largest annual exercise involving U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, Cobra Gold hosts thousands of service members from around the world and is designed to strengthen national relationships.

Cobra Gold '05 saw 6,400 service members from 13 countries conducting mass casualty drills, noncombatant evacuation training, combined live-fire exercises and humanitarian assistance projects throughout Thailand.

Look for more surveys on www.marines.mil For more information about Exercise Cobra Gold, visit www.apan-info.net/cobragold/

Because our online survey only listed 20 popular places, some of your favorite spots fell through the cracks. Thankfully a few liberty hounds sent Marines an e-mail to let us know which ones were forgotten. One of the those liberty locations - the barracks.

Marines,

The minute liberty is sounded, I head to the plaza level of the barracks where I enjoy a full-course meal at the mess hall. After dining, I try and round up about a dozen Marines so we can take turns drilling the platoon and practicing sword manual. After drill, I invite the Marines to run a motivating mock physical fitness test, but I lengthen the distance to five miles vice three. With the mock PFT complete, I head to my room for a P.T. shower followed by a good field day. Once my room is thoroughly clean, I grab the latest edition of the green monster or Marine Battle Skills Training Handbook and I sharpen up on my Marine Corps knowledge. Finally, at the end of my motivating liberty, I unwind with a book from the Marine Corps' suggested reading list.

Semper-Fi,

Sgt. J.R. Beech
Battalion Legal
Headquarters Marine Corps