Are we going to Greece or Thailand?

Posted by Giri Rao, Software Engineer

A couple months ago, my wife and I decided to go on a vacation. I suggested we go to Greece, but she insisted on Thailand. I thought I could win her over by showing her some of the historical areas of Greece, so I promptly brought her to Google Maps. Unfortunately, I couldn't read a thing since all the labels were in Greek. When she tried to check out Thailand, we had the same problem.

I realized that our maps were much less useful for people who don't recognize non-Latin characters. I decided to tackle this the Google way: fixing it myself! Now, in addition to seeing the local label for a location, you'll also see an English version of the local pronunciation for Greece, Thailand, Russia, and many cities in Japan. Google Maps is now more useful for viewing the world!

And with that problem solved, my wife and I still had to decide if we were headed for the bustle of Bangkok or the ancient wonders of Athens (or Athina, as the Greeks say it). Looks like my wife won this one... Thailand, here we come!