Central Thailand from the Sky

Wat Tham Sua ("Tiger Cave Temple") is one of two  famous Buddhist temples near Kanchanaburi, in the west-central part of Thailand.  While the temple was only built in the 1970's, it quickly became a popular cultural site.  The temple also benefits from being located near the site of the fabled Bridge Over the River Kwai, another major tourist draw in this part of the country.  Flying Horizons used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to treat us to an aerial view of this not-so-ancient temple in the jungle, in the province of Kanchanaburi.      

Bangkok is Thailand's largest city as well as its capital.  The city lies in the south of the main (non-peninsular) part of the country, at the head of the Gulf of Thailand.  The skyline of Bangkok has followed its population boom, and it now is one of the more impressive skylines in the world.  In this video, contributor and drone pilot Worldpitou takes us on a tour of this budding world city with a metropolitan population of over 15 million; the aerial views of the city's gleaming  skyscrapers are amazing. 

Pattaya is a medium-sized city on the east side of the Gulf of Thailand, not far from the border with Thailand's neighbor Cambodia.  It's the largest city in Chonburi, one of the 76 provinces which make up this Southeast Asian nation.  Nearby Mapracharn Lake has an enormous population of storks.  Contributor Danny Batchelor flew his DJI Phantom 4 drone over this lake, and was able to capture what appear to be thousands of storks flying over the lake.  Shot on a brilliant day, the storks are so numerous as to appear unreal.  

Top contributor and drone pilot Christian Cuvelier takes his trademark "dronie" pull out shot to Koh Rang, an island of east-central Thailand.  It is part of the Koh Chang archipelago in the province of Trat on the eastern end of the country's Gulf of Thailand coastline, near the border with Cambodia.  The largest island in this group is Koh Chang, which (depending on the method of measurement) is either the second (after Phuket) or third largest (after Phuket and Koh Samui) island in the country.

Contributor Flying Horizons used his DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this beautiful aerial tour of Kanchanaburi, an important cultural center lying a bit northwest of Bangkok.  The first half of the video features beautiful aerial footage of the infamous Bridge Over the River Kwai, a span over the Mae Klong River built by Imperial Japan in World War II with slave and POW labor which inspired a famous 1952 novel by French author Pierre Boulle that was later adapted to an Oscar-winning screenplay.

You'll get an amazing bird's eye view of Bangkok's modern central business district by contributor Drone Home.  Shot along the Chao Praya river, which runs through the heart of the Thai capital city, you will see many of the 70 buildings (as of early 2019) of at least 150 meters (around 500 ft.) in height.  As a skyline ranking measure, that puts it at #15 on a worldwide ranking of cities by that measure, ahead of Toronto, Miami, Melbourne, and Houston, among other cities with notable skylines around the world.     

Check out this amazing drone video of a noted religious landmark in the central part of Thailand, compliments of AirVuz contributor MHz.  The Phra Pathommachedi is what's known as a Stupa, which is a circular structure carrying relics of significance to followers of Buddhism.  It's situated near the medium-sized city of Nakhon Pathom, which is the capital of the province of the same name.  The structure is one of the more popular tourist destinations in the area, which is located a short distance due west from Bangkok.  

Here is a fascinating look at one of the most basic of food production processes: the harvesting of salt, one of the basic human nutrients.  The area shown is in the mangrove areas around the area of  Petchburi in Central Thailand.  It's part of the Samut Songkhram province, on the Gulf of Thailand, just west of Bangkok.  THe region is known in part for being one of the major salt producing areas of Thailand.  You can see the process from a bird's eye view in this video from contributor and drone pilot Grantthai.  

Wat Phutthachai is a Buddhist temple in the Saraburi Province of Central Thailand.  It's located about a two hour drive northeast of the Thai capital city Bangkok.  The temple is built into the side of a hill which sits at the base of Mount Pathawi, one of the prominent mountains of Saraburi.  The temple is known for its Buddha image, as well as for a large monkey population which inhabits the surrounding area.  You can see this temple from a bird's eye perspective in this drone video by vdubtravels.  

Check out this beautiful drone video of the Thai island of Koh Samet, compliments of top contributor and pilot DroneHeroes.  Koh Samet is situated in the Gulf of Thailand in the province of Rayong, southeast of Bangkok.  It's the largest of a cluster of islands which have become popular as side trip destinations from the Thai capital city, which is about 220 km (around 140 mi.) away.  Most of Ko Samet as well as the nearby islands have been declared a national park and are subject to federal conservation rules.  

Contributor and pilot 65photocinema8 created this beautiful drone video of a resort on an island in the Gulf of Thailand.  The Gajapuri Resort is located on Ko Chang Island, which lies off of Thailand's eastern seaboard in the province of Trat.   Depending on the method of enumeration, Ko Chang is either the country's second largest island (after Phuket) or its third largest (after Phuket and Ko Samui).  Its name translates to "Elephant Island" in reference to its elephant shaped headland.  

Here's a great 4k aerial view of Thailand's largest Buddha statue, compliments of contributor and pilot DroneEyePerspective.  Known variously as the Great Buddha of Thailand, the Big Buddha, and the Phra Buddha Maha Nawamin, the massive structure is situated in the Ang Thong Province north of Bangkok.  Completed in 2008, the statue stands 92 meters high (300 ft.) and is 63 meters wide (210 ft.).  It's the tallest statue in Thailand, the second-tallest in Southeast Asia, and the seventh-tallest in the world.

Here's a stunning aerial view from Thailand's Koh Lan Island, compliments of contributor marekbera.  The island is located in the southeastern corner of the Bay of Bangkok, itself an inlet of the larger Gulf of Thailand.  Just a few km/mi offshore of the city of Pattaya, Ko Lan is about 4 km long (just over 2 mi.) and about 2 km wide (just over a mile).  It's a popular beach getaway destination, both for travelers from Bangkok (which is about a 90 minute drive to the northwest, along the Bay), as well as for international travelers.  

Thailand's Wat Yansangwararam is an important Buddhist temple complex about 20 km (around 12 mi.) south of the city of Pattaya near the eastern shore of the Bay of Bangkok.  Completed in 1976, the complex consists of several buildings spread over a very large land area of about 145 acres.  The main temple building follows a very modern design, with a pavilion and a replica of a Buddha footprint.  You can check out this important Buddhist site from a bird's eye perspective in this drone video by JB-Ireland.

Ko Kut is one of the southernmost of the Thai Islands on the eastern side of the Gulf of Thailand.  It's located in Trat, the southeasternmost of the country's provinces.  The landscape of the island is evocative of the islands of Cambodia, which lies just a short distance to its south.  Accessible from the mainland via a roughly 60 minute boat ride, it's one of Thailand's emerging beach destinations.   Check out the tropical paradise from above in this excellent drone video by generationwanderlust.