It is now less than hundred days until the opening of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and the Thailand pavilion is already letting visitors in. We are talking here about the virtual online version of the Expo. Thailand is the first country to open its virtual pavilion.

Virtual pavilions are replicas of the actual pavilions. When you visit the online version of the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and walk by the Thailand pavilion, you now get the possibility to click on “enter”. This will take you into the Thailand pavilion. Once in the pavilion, the visitor can walk around, get explanations about the pavilion’s theme, watch videos, etc.

The theme of  Thailand’s pavilion is “Thainess: Sustainable Ways of Life”. The pavilion is separated in three halls, each of them dedicated to a specific concept:

• “The cycle of life by the water”
• “Trade and interaction with foreign states as impetus for development and progress”
• “Sufficiency Philosophy as guiding light towards sustainable peace and harmony”

If nothing replaces an actual visit to the “real” World Expo, the online version can give the visitor a taste of it. Since visiting the whole Expo and all the pavilions would take many days, the virtual Expo can help you choose the sites you actually want to visit. It also serves as a complement to the “real” Expo by letting the visitor enter pavilions he wouldn’t have the time to visit otherwise.

Given China’s size and population, these kind of virtual events could in future play a role in mitigating traveling time and expenses. By visiting the online Expo, one feels not completely left out of an event, which would otherwise be out of reach for many.

Not all capabilities of the virtual Expo are accessible yet. The “Future City”, which will let online visitors interact with each other is not open yet. The Shanghai World Expo 2010 is officially opening on the first of May.