Is there a better GPS mapping app then Google maps for Thailand? Primarily greater  Bangkok but will be doing some traveling. 

Edited October 3, 20178 yr by JohnMc45

Try Navmii GPS. It`s free (ads) and available for iOS and Android. You can download maps for most countries and they are very good and up-to-date.

1 hour ago, JohnMc45 said:

Is there a better GPS mapping app then Google maps for Thailand? Primarily greater  Bangkok but will be doing some traveling. 

 

Short answer- no.  There are no better apps than Google maps for getting around Thailand, especially using the live traffic data to see where the snarls are.

 

But there are other apps.  I keep Navigator (free version) on my phone because it doesn't require a live interweb connection once the updated country maps are loaded up.  Maps are good, updated often and I haven't found a glaring error yet.  Especially handy in China where Google is blocked, and in the boondocks of Thailand where the 4G signal is bad.

 

I find TomTom Go for Android to be quite good. It costs about 1700B for three years use, but that includes worldwide maps and all updates. It doesnt require mobile data to work as all maps are stored locally and all calculations done on the device, but if you do have mobile data then it will show traffic flow in real time.

I used it extensively in the US without any trouble and wanted to use it in Europe but my hire car had some weird issue with the window glass that prevented my phone from getting a satellite signal, so I used the car's built-in SatNav instead which was more than a year out of date even though the car was brand new. It was also very limited in what town names it would recognise, and I often had to get coordinates from Google and put them into the car's SatNav.

 

One massive failing on all SatNav devices seems to be the complete lack of any scenic information. Michelin maps show scenic routes with a green band, and this makes planning a scenic trip very easy. I know of no equivalent with any SatNav.

I’ve not found anything better than google maps. We’ve got Toyota sat nav built into the pick up and it is ? . Might be better in Thai but in English it is useless so it’s Google all the way.

http://www.sygic.com/gps-navigation#2

Personnaly I use Sygic for maybe 5 years, I am satify, but it is not free. 

An excellent free app is NOSTRA maps, a Thai company that has both Thai and English versions, and has all the features you'd need. I really don't know why more people are unaware of this program. It's all I use because it's maps are always up to date combined with a giant database of local businesses. One good way to know if your app is supported by the developers is by the pace of updates. Check that box for NOSTRA.

27 minutes ago, Headgame said:

An excellent free app is NOSTRA maps, a Thai company that has both Thai and English versions, and has all the features you'd need. I really don't know why more people are unaware of this program. It's all I use because it's maps are always up to date combined with a giant database of local businesses. One good way to know if your app is supported by the developers is by the pace of updates. Check that box for NOSTRA.

Yes indeed, a very good map, I use it when looking for somewhere, but never thought using it a GPS in the car.

Maps.ME is probably the best I have come across-- its free, adjust to where ever you are, and downloads--can use the functions without the internet, gives you 60 country's ..as soon as I got off the plane in UK, it buzzed--"Do I want to download London? 

Try it as its free from our Russian friends, if you dont like it just delete--works on every kind of Phone..IOS Android Balckberry etc.....no papers to sign -no money to pay--use it as a back up, most of my friends started that way then just kept it--takes up very little space, If you live BKK it will see that and ask--do you want detailed map BKK or whole Thailand..if you travel overseas it will download as you go--was better than Google maps in Hanoi.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maps.me

 

viamichelin has good maps - in English -

I have Sygic. A onetime fee. Its also doesnt need internet. 

I use HERE WeGo since many years in Thailand (offline map/for free) and never got lost ;-)

No!

4 hours ago, Headgame said:

An excellent free app is NOSTRA maps, a Thai company that has both Thai and English versions, and has all the features you'd need. I really don't know why more people are unaware of this program. It's all I use because it's maps are always up to date combined with a giant database of local businesses. One good way to know if your app is supported by the developers is by the pace of updates. Check that box for NOSTRA.

Its an online map according to the developers..so needs Mobile data just like Google. ?

A grammar police post has been removed. 

Just downloaded NOSTRA, I must say that it looks good ( without using it of course ).

It certainly seems more up to date than Google maps.

My soi doesn't show on Google 

 

Yet on NOSTRA 

 

 

Will give it a go over the next few days.

Edited October 3, 20178 yr by Andrew Dwyer

4 hours ago, Tchooptip said:

Personnaly I use Sygic for maybe 5 years, I am satify, but it is not free. 

It is now 

Google maps is not so bad for general navigation. I have Sygic also which is good for offline use. I've been using Waze recently and that seems pretty good where I am from time to time, not really tried it in Thailand yet. Need to give Nostra a try

 

I've used TomTom S.E. Asia...very good, no problems.  Covers a few countries in S.E. Asia including Indonesia.

 

I have also used Maps.me and it's been mentioned in another reply.  I will simply say that Maps.me is outstanding for what it is and it's constantly improving.  Offline maps, which is a basic feature, is for me a Godsend.  Is it perfect?  No.  But it's very, very good.

Hi peeps,

 

i did see some peoples using also Tomtom maps. Well i did use it this year on my vacation and i was very unsatisfied with it.

 

About 80% of the time TT didn't found what i was looking for but google maps did.

 

It's impossible to give in a Thai adress. I tried it a few times with the name and adress of the hotels and they weren't small ones. But TT didn't help me at all.

 

But i will definatly use some of the suggested app inhere. Thanks guys

 

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It is now 

 

I just checked their website and app but they still charge you a one time fee

 

https://eshop.sygic.com/en/

 

 

Also use Nostra - it's based on extensive digitization of up-to-date aerial photography of Thailand that is unavailable to the Google Maps and other applications so is more accurate and detailed. It's also regularly updated.

22 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Short answer- no.  There are no better apps than Google maps for getting around Thailand, especially using the live traffic data to see where the snarls are.

 

But there are other apps.  I keep Navigator (free version) on my phone because it doesn't require a live interweb connection once the updated country maps are loaded up.  Maps are good, updated often and I haven't found a glaring error yet.  Especially handy in China where Google is blocked, and in the boondocks of Thailand where the 4G signal is bad.

 

HERE (former Nokia) & GPS Navigation are free, voice directions and, so far, accurate. From Android Play Store. I don't use anything Apple, so can't comment, except to say their latest iPhones are finally catching up with my 2014 Samsung Note 4 .   

12 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It is now 

Yep. I use it, too. Quite good, though maps are crude compared to HERE.

9 hours ago, JCauto said:

Also use Nostra - it's based on extensive digitization of up-to-date aerial photography of Thailand that is unavailable to the Google Maps and other applications so is more accurate and detailed. It's also regularly updated.

 

Reading in, I went to get NOSTRA and it appear to be exclusive to Thailand.  So I'm downloading it anyway, but it seems a shame to clutter up a phone with multiple GPS apps that don't work when traveling.  But if it works as indicated...

 

On 3-10-2017 at 9:52 AM, impulse said:

 

Short answer- no.  There are no better apps than Google maps for getting around Thailand, especially using the live traffic data to see where the snarls are.

 

But there are other apps.  I keep Navigator (free version) on my phone because it doesn't require a live interweb connection once the updated country maps are loaded up.  Maps are good, updated often and I haven't found a glaring error yet.  Especially handy in China where Google is blocked, and in the boondocks of Thailand where the 4G signal is bad.

 

I have "herewego" works perfect.

21 hours ago, chezy86 said:

I’ve not found anything better than google maps. We’ve got Toyota sat nav built into the pick up and it is ? . Might be better in Thai but in English it is useless so it’s Google all the way.

 

Agree with you one hundred percent.  I have the inbuilt sat nav in my Honda CRV, very poor in Thai, bloody useless in English.  Asked about an upgrade and they want 10,000 baht.  Have to be kidding. 

8 minutes ago, Wim1954 said:

I have "herewego" works perfect.

At least one member who votes for a map that is far better readable than Google maps for Thailand for use as a street/road map

It's the former Nokia Maps now taken over by a consortium of car companies (Audi, BMW, Mercedes).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(company)

 

On the smartphone it is fully offline capable (map for Thailand can be downloaded/updated).

 

On the web it is found here:

https://wego.here.com/?map=13.85793,100.6548,11,normal

 

Compare:

https://www.google.co.th/maps/@13.8824187,100.610155,11z?hl=de

 

19 hours ago, Foexie said:

Hi peeps,

 

i did see some peoples using also Tomtom maps. Well i did use it this year on my vacation and i was very unsatisfied with it.

 

About 80% of the time TT didn't found what i was looking for but google maps did.

 

It's impossible to give in a Thai adress. I tried it a few times with the name and adress of the hotels and they weren't small ones. But TT didn't help me at all.

 

But i will definatly use some of the suggested app inhere. Thanks guys

 

 

I just checked their website and app but they still charge you a one time fee

 

https://eshop.sygic.com/en/

 

 

 

 

You looked in in the wrong place. The Sygic worldwide navigation app is free and so are the maps

 

they still sell individual paid for apps. It is perfectly functional without paying for the Premium upgrade.

 

Edited October 4, 20178 yr by sometimewoodworker

I feel really decadent about this: I use Google maps mostly, but at the same time have Sygic working on my other phone. Why? Because Sygic seems to be very bad at long distance route planning but is very useful for lane suggestions when approaching a junction.

Google maps have never let me down on long or short trips.