Yes, I have "predicted":http://ichris.ws/2007/03/09/theyre-coming this will happen soon. Yes, I am still dumbstruck. "The whole of Thailand":http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Kingdom+of+Thailand&layer=&ie=UT... is now covered by Google Map. The implications are multi-fold: * Location based web services can build on top of the platform. * Geo-tagging things locally now makes a whole of sense. * Peoples will start creating their "My Map":http://maps.google.com/help/maps/userguide/index.html and entering places and businesses. Google will gradually make the ones that are public visible to all. Local business search will then be possible. * Location based ads will start generating revenue for Google. 
I think some peoples will not like that the whole thing is in Thai, but eventually the mass that will drive revenue will be the locals and not expats.
Google Map, Thailand
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Agree with you that the main
Agree with you that the main revenue would be from Locals.. But it shouldn't be difficult for the almighty Google to hack in an English translated layer for expats/travelers?
Think of the possibilities.
On my travel portal (under construction) i can show POIs to my visitors in English... In case they need to go by a cab... hit the Thai switch, take a print out... n hand it over to the driver. convenient.
I'd love to see your portal
I'd love to see your portal when it's done. :)
I believe the problem is that no data vendor has complete bilingual data for Google to work on. This is not something you can easily hack in.
For a well executed bilingual map, I go to http://map.longdo.com But their data source (freely available) is not as extensive as Google's.
hi chris, thanks a lot for
hi chris,
thanks a lot for the encouragement and the link to longdo
Longdo seems to have solved my problem.. for starters their data is acceptable, but how do i go about encorporating it into my site? GIS sounds kinda alien to me... but incorporating maps can be done if i can get some sample code.
Could you point me to a free data source for thailand maps? i could play with some opensource map servers also..
This page
This page http://map.longdo.com/about-longdomap says the data came from a CD freely available through BMA. I have look around, and the only way to get it is to show up at BMA office and ask for it :( (bring your passport too)
Hi again chris, Just wanted
Hi again chris,
Just wanted to update the situation. Google maps for thailand now has eng labels along with thai http://www.sajalkayan.com/google-maps-for-thailand-now-speaks-english.html
I just started work on my portal last month after discovering Drupal lets hope now with Google map support I can make it into a useful resource for confused tourists.
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