What a drone sees over Tiger Cave Temple in Thailand

USC student Conner Sullivan travels with a drone, not a Go-Pro. On a recent trip to Asia, he filmed a number of landmarks, including the high-altitude shrine that’s part of the Tiger Cave Temple complex near Krabi in southern Thailand (see video).

Sullivan and his buddies climbed the 1,200-plus steps up to the massive Buddha and let the drone take off. It captured amazing aerial views of the lush forest all around and the landmark itself.

It’s a perspective rarely seen. For those who are wondering (I did), those are electrical towers around and atop the Buddha, which lights up at night.

The temple complex, called Wat Tham Sua in Thai, gets its name from a cave that has what appear to be tiger paw prints in the stone.

Sullivan says he’s had no problems traveling with his drone, which he carries in a protective black case. He says he has carried it through airport security at LAX, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, without being stopped or questioned.

While the drone flight at the temple went smoothly, Sullivan had a close call in Bangkok during the same trip. After getting kicked off one high-rise hotel roof, he wound up on the revolving deck of the city’s tallest building, Balyoke Tower II.

You can watch the drone in Bangkok -- blades and all -- come close to clipping the electrical towers.