One of the landmarks that lets us know we are getting close to our home at the Beach Village is the Guan Yin Shrine.  It is spectacular looking, a saintly woman of outsized proportions encircled by a Dragon. Eventually we learned that Guan Yin is a Buddhist bodhisattva, a spirit who renounces the afterlife to stay among the living and help them. Guan Yin is known for her compassion, and in Thailand is referred to as "The Goddess of Mercy." Despite being in the middle of nowhere (it is south of the town of Pranburi and a few kilometers from Sam Roi Yot), there is a constant flow of workshippers at the small shrine at the base of the statue, and there is a constant blaring of horns from the vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles) passing by. Dale took a bike ride up to the shrine to put together the virtual tour below.



Virtual Reality Tour for VR Headsets
There is also a version of this tour that works with VR headsets (such as Google Cardboard) and it runs on both iPhones and Android phones. It may be accessed by scanning the QR code to the left. If you are viewing this on a smartphone, you may access the tour by clicking on this link.




For iOS devices: scan QR code with device camera app, tap on prompt to open Safari, select "allow device motion" and on the next prompt "allow access to motion orientation." Turn device to landscape mode and a split screen will appear. When the screen turns white, swipe up for fullscreen and place device in headset. Here is a video of how to do this--it is simpler than it sounds! [Video opens in a separate window-close window to return to page]

For Android devices: use the phone's camera to scan the QR code, and then select the tour you want to visit. Wait for the tour to load. Tour will appear in a split screen, and tap on the "X" and the bottom menu to go fullscreen. Turn the phone to portrait mode, place in headset and enjoy the tour. Here is a video on how to do it--it is simpler than it sounds! [Video opens in a separate window-close window to return to page]