Bangkok, 26 January, 2015 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), in partnership with 3rd Planet, a new media company which develops interactive 3D platforms for the travel and tourism industry, has launched a virtual reality tour of the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha – the kingdom’s best known and most visited tourist attractions.
Travellers from all around the world will now be able to take an amazing interactive 3D tour of Bangkok’s magnificent Grand Palace and explore the sacred Temple of the Emerald Buddha via 3rd Planet’s Wonders of the World platform, which is available on PCs, Smartphone’s and tablet devices for both iOS and Android users.
Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Director of Marketing Information Technology Group of TAT said, “This 3D virtual reality tour of the Grand Palace will allow travellers from all over the world to enjoy a much greater understanding of Thailand’s best-loved tourist attraction and its rich history. By taking the tour, they will get a real feel for the place and can plan an itinerary for when they visit for real. And what is more, they will have an even greater understanding of the Palace’s importance to Thailand, its art and architecture, whether they are visiting for the first time or the tenth.”
The virtual reality tour of Bangkok’s Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha will give virtual visitors a bird’s-eye view of the famous attraction with marking pins to show highlights and interesting features. “Travellers” can also access information about the history and background of the temple and palaces in similar depth to a tour brochure or travel book.
Some of the facts that “travellers” will learn when taking this interactive 3D tour is that the Emerald Buddha image is the main attraction of the temple and is one of the most sacred religious images in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha image is enshrined on a golden traditional Thai-style throne made of gilded-carved wood. There are 12 huge guardian giants protecting the temple and the galleries in the temple’s cloisters feature 2-kilometres of murals depicting around 178 scenes of the ancient Thai epic, the Ramakien.
The interactive 3D tour allows the “traveller” to move around important and beautiful tourist attractions simply by moving a computer mouse and clicking on points of interest. They can zoom in and out for a more detailed look and click to get information. It is also possible to take a guided tour, which shows the most important aspects of the attraction accompanied by an informative commentary. This state-of-the-art programme also gives useful information about services; such as, nearby shuttle bus services, F&B outlets, and opening/closing times. “Travellers” can also find out what other unique activities can be enjoyed nearby.
3rd Planet is a new media company that designs and constructs interactive 3D platforms for the tourist industry, so travellers can enjoy a much deeper understanding of the places they visit, or have already seen. The company has already launched virtual reality tours for Macao’s The Venetian and now Bangkok’s Grand Palace. It is scheduled to launch interactive 3D tours of destinations in China, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Japan and Nepal in the near future.
For more information, please visit: Experience the Grand Palace of Thailand in interactive 3D
Contact Information
International Public Relations Division
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2250 5500 ext. 4545-48
Fax: +66 (0) 2253 7419
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.tatnews.org
Facebook: TAT Newsroom
Twitter: TAT Newsroom
