Everyone has been impressed with what Google Earth can do. As someone looking to go to Thailand for their holiday you could go and have a look at your destination before you get there or you could find Area 51 for the conspiracy theorists out there. If you have never tried Google Earth go get it and have some fun travelling the earth without leaving your computer.

What you cannot do though with the programme is get down to street level. Pattaya Photo Guide has changed this and I can only hope that other equally talented people living in tourist destinations in Thailand figure out the technology behind this and create similar projects. This screen shot of the web site doesn’t show you half of what this site can do or what the potential is for other locations.

The left hand side of the page has the main Soi’s listed and it also has a section that will take you to a list of hotels, restaurants, shopping areas etc. Obviously the lists will be companies that pay for a listing but if your check them out you’ll see how easy the navigation is. I went wandering along the main street to the north end of the beach road to find the the Amari Orchid Resort, a hotel we used in 2003. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this hotel has undergone some major refurbishments since 2003 and in-fact a whole new tower has been added. Maybe what I thought of that hotel is a post for another time.

What ever your opinion of Pattaya I suggest you go take a look at this web site purely for what it can do. However I thought it a great idea also to allow people worried about stories from Pattaya to have a look. You can walked up and done the majority of the town with easy and nothing is hidden. So if you like what you see then maybe you would consider Pattaya as a destination on your next Thailand travel.

Now take this technology and idea and put this in place in other towns and from a tourist point of view it would be great. No longer would you have to try and visualise what the place will be like or what your hotel looks like from the brochures. You could walk around your holiday destination looking at hotels and restaurants before even getting there. This could save you the a lot of hassle and time. I only hope that the website images are updated often and in 2020 you are not looking at what a town was like when it was good!

On a scuba diving front Pattaya is one of the main scuba destinations for Thailand. It’s a great jump off point for some nice dive locations, as well as one of the best locations to find out about wreck dives in Thailand. If technical diving is your thing then you won’t be disappointed it what Pattaya has to offer either.

It’s been a long time since I’ve visited Hua Hin in the south of Thailand and to be honest after my last visit there I didn’t think I would be going back. I won’t go into details why I disliked it but from what I’ve heard recently it has changed a great deal and has become a tourist destination again.

Since 2001 Hua Hin has hosted a Jazz festival on its beaches and this year, 2008, the dates have been set for 13-14 June. This festival has grown in popularity each year and is now a major event in June in Thailand. This can only be good for those who like to visit the country in what is described as the ‘Green Season‘. Between May and October tourism in drops off and most towns outside the major places like Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya etc can become a little like a ghost town. Maybe this is why I didn’t like my first visit to Hua Hin!

This festival however makes visiting Thailand in the cheap season worth doing again, even if you don’t like Jazz. With two beach stages at the Hilton Hotel and Sofitel Hotel and a host of events along the beach between these two it has been nicknamed the “Jazz Alley” for this weekend.

As normal with most events in Thailand Heineken beer is the main sponsor and will be setting up a “Charity Zone”, I think this is called a beer tent in most other places. Heineken however are charging 500baht to get into this zone but some of your ticket price will go to the charity ‘Thai Red Cross’ so I guess there not all bad. You will also get some free beer and a prize draw entry for your baht, but when ever I’ve took part in these Ive never found out if I won or not, that reminds me I must get on with my Thai language course.

“I think it’s a bit of a joke…It’s ludicrous..”, that was the response by Oasis front man Noel Gallagher on hearing the news that Manchester City’s manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson would be dismissed after their final two games of the season.

After man City’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Fulham this weekend Shinawatra has been reported to have told Eriksson he was ” not the right man for the job”. Noel Gallagher, in his interview with BBC radio, went onto say that Eriksson had taken control of a club that had not been going anywhere for the last 25 years and gave the fans some pride in their club and provided them with stylish football again. He further says that “If Shinawatra thinks he was gonna’ come in here and qualify for the champions league straight away he’s trippin’”.

If Eriksson does go it will be a great shock to the players as well who have been reported to be angry at Shinwatara’s move to remove Eriksson. They are reported to be 100% behind their manager and can’t believe that after Man city’s best season this is even being talked about.

To read on more on this story head over to the BBC football website.