Google charts a careful course through Asia''s maps

Google rushed out its panoramic Street View maps in Thailand on Friday as part of the country''s efforts to show tourist hot spots have recovered from last year''s floods. But it also marked something of a change of fortunes for Google itself, which has weathered several storms in Asia over its mapping products.
Google rolled out 360-degree images of the streets of Bangkok, the resort island of Phuket and the northern city of Chiang Mai. Street View allows users to click through a seamless view of streets via the company''s Google Maps website. Google plans to use a tricycle-mounted camera to photograph places that can''t be reached by car, such as parks and monuments. The Tourism Authority of Thailand will launch a poll to choose which sites to photograph first. "We really want to show that Thailand isn''t still underwater," said David Marx, Google''s Tokyo-based communications manager. "People should see Thailand for what it is."
Pongrit Abhijatapong, marketing information technology officer at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said it was less about showing that Thailand was back to normal. "Rather, we hope tourists can see with their own eyes what Thailand is like. Street View will help their decision-making process in a positive way in regards to visiting Thailand."
Google has not always been able to count on such enthusiasm elsewhere in Asia, illustrating the challenges the company has faced besides high-profile spats with China over privacy and India over removing offensive content. While Google has faced issues globally - most recently over its changes to its user privacy policy - Google''s efforts to map and photograph streets across Asia have encountered cultural, political and security obstacles. In Japan, for example, Google was required to reshoot its street level photos in 12 cities in 2009 after complaints the 360-degree camera, set atop a vehicle plying Japan''s narrow streets, was photographing the insides of people''s homes. And in South Korea its Seoul offices were raided in 2010 after police discovered that the Street View vehicle was not just taking photos but also capturing data over Wi-Fi networks.
BALANCING In India, Google''s plans to capture street-level images of Bangalore were blocked by Indian police in 2011. Google says it is in discussions with the Indian government "on ways to move forward." Marx pointed out that Street View had been rolled out without problems elsewhere in Asia, including Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore, and is about to begin photographing Malaysia.
The cases in Japan and Korea have been resolved, Marx said, and Street View was now live and popular in both countries. Indeed, Marx said Street View now covered much of Japan, including far-flung islands. In addition, Google captured street-level images of the area hit by the tsunami as part of an initiative to chronicle the devastation and reconstruction.
"Japan," he said, "has become one of the global highlights of Street View." But issues remain in both countries. Japan''s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has since warned Google to comply with the country''s privacy laws. That included a notice in November instructing Google to delete data collected from Wi-Fi networks. In South Korea, prosecutors said their investigations were only temporarily suspended after failing to gain access to some Google staff involved in the matter.