14 DAY TRIAL // Google is on the way of adding another country to one of its most controversial but undoubtedly useful projects, Street View, Thailand. The company plans to start shooting in the country and is looking for suggestions on where to start.
Thailand is a very popular tourist destination, but it can be hard to get information online about the many great places.
What's more, it's a lot harder to get any real, unbiased views of what it's actually like in some places, beyond what the tourism brochures and hotel websites allow you to see.
This is where Street View could come in. With Street View anyone can visit any place in the world and get a real-life view of what it's like.
Google has already started shooting in some of the biggest cities in the country, including Bangkok. But Google wants to go beyond the obvious places and shoot popular tourist spots and interesting locations.
It's partnered with the national Tourism Authority of Thailand and will start a program to receive suggestions on places where to shoot.
"Tourism is such an important contributor to Thailand's economy and with the help of features like Google Maps with Street View we can support our partner, TAT, in their efforts to promote sustainable tourism domestically and internationally by giving people a whole new way to experience Thailand," Google's Pornthip Kongchun said.
"Street View has so many different uses - for urban development planners, law enforcement agencies, house hunters, travelers, etc - it lets users check out restaurants before arriving, make travel plans and arrange meeting points," he added.
Google Street View is already available in several tens of countries and is moving into more. It's not always welcomed though, it has been forced to stop shooting in India recently, for example.