Pattaya Takes Google Earth One Step Forward
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.
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Great post, I checked out the site and remember seeing this technology years ago but never used in this way. Its a great idea and you can see more of it at http://www.mapjack.com/ I checked out other parts of Thailand That way!
Very cool!