You have to see this to believe it. Google Earth still blows my mind every time I use it, but the guys over at Pattaya Photo Guide have taken things one step further and applied similar, albeit scaled down, technology to a city. Instead of zooming in to a point from above, you can basically use the technology to “walk” around Pattaya and take in the sites.

While you’re walking through the streets you can rotate the view a full 360 degrees. Looking at people or buildings or whatever takes your fancy. Everything is stationary, obviously, but it’s still mighty impressive. I’ve never seen this kind of thing before.

All the major areas in Pattaya are covered. I took a walk through Walking Street. When you arrive at the site for the first time, you can start moving yourself around by using your mouse and arrow keys. Clicking on the blue dots also moves you.

I’ve no idea how they did this, but the technology is called “MapJack”. Jack is the guy whose eyes you use while your cruising around the city.

The website lets you visit bars and specific areas, like here I went to the bars on Soi 6 and I could actually see a troop of smiling go-go girls, although they didn’t say much. You can also see condos, apartments, hotels, restaurants and shopping plazas, although you can’t actually go into the buildings.

This sort of website is definitely cool if you’re planning to visit Pattaya for the first time and you want to check out where your hotel is and see what’s around in the same sort of area. There are similar websites showing San Francisco, Sausalito, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite Nat Park and Chiang Mai, all done by the same guys I think.

Check it out. It’s nuts.