More Streetview coverage in Thailand

Yesterday, Google added lot of areas all over the world with more Streetview imagery, including Thailand. Whereas in the original launch in March this year only Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket province got good coverage, now some more provinces got covered.

• Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon already had some imagery, especially the parts close to Bangkok, but now these provinces are covered almost completely.
• Nakhon Nayok is also covered well, just the road through Khao Yai is missing
• The more remote parts of Chiang Mai got added, as well as a good deal of Chiang Rai province
• The road from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai is also covered now, like the road from Bangkok to Phuket in the first batch
• Also, the road to Si Sawat in Kanchanaburi can now be driven online
• Small parts of Suphanburi and Ayutthaya province are added as well as the northern tip of Chonburi province.

Richard Barrow has posted a comparison of the coverage around Bangkok on his blog. According to Google, right now the Streetview cars take imagery in Chonburi around Pattaya as well as in Suphanburi. I hope the South as well as the Isan will see those cars soon as well.

Thaiyawat TAO

While browsing through this imagery is fun by itself, it is also a nice tool for my data collection on the local administrations. I still haven't found any comprehensive map with the locations of the local administration offices, and just looking from above often doesn't give any clear indication which building is the correct office.

With the first Streetview data I was able to complete my map with the local administrations in Phuket, so with a bit of luck I may be able to do the same with the provinces around Bangkok now. For example, when I wrote about the incident in Thaiyawat TAO two weeks ago, I tried to find the location of the office which seemed to be close to temple Wat Thaiyawat. But only with Streetview I was now able to identify the actual building - not a representative large new building easily spotted in satellite imagery, like the one in many local administrations.