Hi everyone,

this probably has been covered to death but I just don't have the time to go and search. Here is my situation. I have an older Honda City model which still looks as new as on the day I picked it up new from the car dealer. BUT: it has no navi. My 10-year old daughter Amy is a tennis player who just had her first tennis tournament in Korat. Traveling to a unknown destination without a navi is complete stress. From January 2020 on we will be traveling to tennis tournaments all over Thailand once or twice a month. I have a Samsung Note 8 tablet which I could use as hardware in my car. It fits perfectly in on my car.

 

All I need now is software, I mean an app, free or not which could bring me safely from A to B anywhere in Thailand, but should be in English, not Thai. Can anyone help?

google maps, a bit lazy to find a link

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

google maps, a bit lazy to find a link

Thanks Steve. That is not the solution. I need a software where I can put in the coordinates of my destination and then acts as a GPS and shows me the way.

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Dario

Google maps does exactly that.

Google Maps or

HERE WeGo

 

HERE WeGo does not depend on internet connection.

3 minutes ago, Dario said:

Thanks Steve. That is not the solution. I need a software where I can put in the coordinates of my destination and then acts as a GPS and shows me the way.

I guess you should adapt, google maps is perfect. It can work with coordinates too.

 

There is almost nothing better then google maps with navigation. You say where you want to go and set it and done. Can be in THAI an English so that is great for finding things.

 

I use google maps in combination with line friends send me "coordinates or links" and it just opens on google map.

5 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

HERE WeGo does not depend on internet connection.

Neither does Google offline maps.

 

Downside of using offline navigation is you forego real-time traffic updates.

I've been in the 'lost and found' quite a few times.

 

Lost as in 'lost in rural Issan when out on a venture ride on my motorcycle'.

 

Found as in 'found my way home thanks to my smartphone and google maps'.

 

 

17 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Google maps does exactly that.

Perfect then! I'm always eager to learn. Now I have downloaded "Google Maps Go - Directions, Traffic & Transit". Is this the correct one? I have out in my coordinates and my locations show on the right. Then I have put in the coordinates of my destination on the left and it shows. So now, I just drive and watch the map? Sorry, but I have never ever used a Navi.

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Dario

16 minutes ago, Dario said:

Perfect then! I'm always eager to learn. Now I have downloaded "Google Maps Go - Directions, Traffic & Transit". Is this the correct one? I have out in my coordinates and my locations show on the right. Then I have put in the coordinates of my destination on the left and it shows. So now, I just drive and watch the map? Sorry, but I have never ever used a Navi.

another satisfied poster

18 minutes ago, Dario said:

Now I have downloaded "Google Maps Go - Directions, Traffic & Transit". Is this the correct one?

Can't say I've heard of that one, I just use normal Google maps, but yeah, basically that's all there is to it.

 

 

• Enter start location (or use current location as GPS will show where you are).
• Enter destination.
• Can tell it to avoid tolls if you really want to.
• Can choose route if multiple shown/tweak route (drag parts of it) if you want to stop off somewhere on the way.
• Hit start and off you go.
• Google will tell you when you are coming up to a junction (so make sure volume is up) and which way to turn.
• If major congestion ahead it will offer a faster route.
• If you go the wrong way it will recalculate the route automatically.

 

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Salerno

1 minute ago, Salerno said:

Can't say I've heard of that one, I just use normal Google maps, but yeah, basically that's all there is to it.

 

 

• Enter start location (or use current location as GPS will show where you are).
• Enter destination.
• Can tell it to avoid tolls if you really want to.
• Can choose route if multiple shown/tweak route (drag parts of it) if you want to stop off somewhere on the way.
• Hit start and off you go.
• Google will tell you when you are coming up to a junction (so make sure volume is up) and which way to turn.
• If major congestion ahead it will offer a faster route.

 

To Steve: yeah, happy poster. I can confirm this. As long as I don't encounter the regular bashers ...

To Salerno: thanks a lot. I guess, I'm ready to go anywhere now. Google really seems to be our friend.

I just wonder why people buy and use TomTom when there is a free app like Google Maps.

 

14 minutes ago, Dario said:

Google really seems to be our friend.

I just wonder why people buy and use TomTom when there is a free app like Google Maps.

Depends how you look at it ... nothing in life is free.

 

To offer this service they are basically "spying" on us and selling our data to others. They get the real-time traffic conditions (unlike TomTom etc.) from pinging all Android devices e.g. they know there's 6 minutes congestion ahead because they've tracked how long it's taken people ahead of you with an Android device. It's a privacy trade-off I'm willing to make.

 

Other functionality I missed above (a couple especially useful for your use case):

 

• It can tell you roughly when to leave to get there at a certain time (so tell it when you have to be at the tennis club and it will suggest best time to leave).
• It tells you ETA in real-time - so you can chill out or floor it.
• It can tell you where speed cameras are (this functionality is a bit iffy in Australia, unlikely to be much use for now in Thailand).
• It also keeps a record of everywhere you've been if you let it.
• Can search local area e.g. I was running on fumes and searched for petrol stations, didn't tell me first two I went to after searching didn't sell Benzine though 555
   
• Sometimes the directions aren't too clear "slight right"?
• Have heard out in the sticks it can be problematic as maps aren't up to date but personally haven't hit that issue.

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Salerno

18 minutes ago, Dario said:

To Steve: yeah, happy poster. I can confirm this. As long as I don't encounter the regular bashers ...

To Salerno: thanks a lot. I guess, I'm ready to go anywhere now. Google really seems to be our friend.

I just wonder why people buy and use TomTom when there is a free app like Google Maps.

There are some disadvantages that I have found from using Google maps on my phone compared to my last Garmin GPS. One is that the Garmin gave me more notice of turns coming up when traveling at highway speed, ie when driving at 100kph it would give the first warning at about 2kms out so I had plenty of time to slow down and change lanes if necessary, but at suburban speeds it would be less. Google seems to have a fixed distance regardless of speed, the other day it told me to turn left in 500m when I was doing 100 in the outside lane, with the inner lane full !

 Of course, if you have a dashboard mount you can also keep an eye on the map to avoid this but it was not my car.

 A GPS has points of interest preloaded, makes it easier to see what gas stations are coming up, or find a hotel, or tourist attraction, etc. You can search for these on Google maps, but that’s not something you should be doing while driving !

 You can also save your own favorites on to the GPS.

 Also (depending on the software installed) you can keep a log of mileage, input fuel amounts and costs.

 So there are some advantages for a GPS, for some people.

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by MikeN

22 minutes ago, Dario said:

I just wonder why people buy and use TomTom when there is a free app like Google Maps.

This could be a reason...I just put in my Bangkok location with a destination in Khon Kaen, it gave an estimated journey time of 3D 18HRS but got the distance correct.

2 minutes ago, MikeN said:

the other day it told me to turn left in 500m when I was doing 100 in the outside lane, with the inner lane full !

Been there done that 555

Other day I was at traffic lights, major hold up, outside lane - told me to turn left! Thanks for finding me a faster route but yeah, not going to happen ????

 

@Dario Another thing to think about that MikeN reminded me, depending on distance you're going it can suck up battery so get yourself a decent in-car charger. I use my handset (Samsung S9+) so got a dashboard mount, with built-in fast wireless charging and powered from cigarette lighter dual USB port charger. From your pic, similar charger would be worth investing in although the dashboard mount obviously superfluous.

 

 

One thing I have found with Google maps in Thailand is that you have to be vigilant about which way it is telling you to go.  After several mishaps I realised that Google Maps in Thailand will direct you to turn right/left down a road that goes through villages/towns, rather than stay on a main road/highway - because the 'village' road is a few kms shorter.   It of course does not realise that on the highways everyone goes 90-100(+) even though the official speed limit might be 60 or 80 - and there is no way you can do a constant 60 going through villages.  What I learned to do is to set the journey before I left - you can instruct google maps to go to certain locations on the way.  But still keep an eye on it - for whatever reasons it might try and get you to leave a main highway and go on a back road.  Once you are close to the location and you are at the turn off the main road that you know, then let it go. Works great - but you have to be vigilant.

7 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

This could be a reason...I just put in my Bangkok location with a destination in Khon Kaen, it gave an estimated journey time of 3D 18HRS but got the distance correct.

Did you have google maps set for walking ? LOL.

 

one addendum to my previous post on Google v GPS ....with google maps on your phone you can do a voice search/command for directions, something that was not around for my last GPS. Do any current model GPS units have voice command nowadays ?

22 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Been there done that 555

Other day I was at traffic lights, major hold up, outside lane - told me to turn left! Thanks for finding me a faster route but yeah, not going to happen ????

 

@Dario Another thing to think about that MikeN reminded me, depending on distance you're going it can suck up battery so get yourself a decent in-car charger. I use my handset (Samsung S9+) so got a dashboard mount, with built-in fast wireless charging and powered from cigarette lighter dual USB port charger. From your pic, similar charger would be worth investing in although the dashboard mount obviously superfluous.

 

 

Thanks for the tip, yes, long distance rides could suck up a lot of power. I feed my tablet via double USB thing plugged into the cigarette lighter.

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Dario

3 hours ago, Dario said:

All I need now is software, I mean an app, free or not which could bring me safely from A to B anywhere in Thailand, but should be in English, not Thai. Can anyone help?

My personal preference is Sygic which is completely off line unless you want traffic. It is not free or cheap but on both a tablet and phone is far better than either the Garmin or TomTom apps. Google maps is not quite as good as you can’t download enough maps to do a long distance off line.
 

The speed limit indication on Sygic is great (white on the HUD yellow for over speed) so it gets used on anything longer than a trip to the local town.

 

The HUD is also something that google doesn’t offer.

 

I will use both, though not usually simultaneously. Another offline app I use is map.me for rout planning and walking to unfamiliar places in towns. I’ve also got Waze but haven’t used it yet 

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by sometimewoodworker

I'm still not getting used to Google Maps as a Navigator, I'm sure I don't know how to use the settings. I used now HERE We Go and that is what I want. It shows like on a Navi and shows speed limit as well as the speed I'm currently driving. Perfect. I made a short trip (15 km) to the nearest Tesco-Lotus to visit True. Now listen to this: I had not used my tablet for a few months as we have 3 computers at home and wifi and I had not traveled, so I got a new number, then I asked for a package. I said that I don't need to call with my tablet, only need lots of GB so I can use as a  Navi. You won't believe what I've got! It's prepaid 200 Baht per month (VAT included) and I get not 10 GB ... I get 100 (one hundred) GB per month! For only 200 Baht per month. I'm still speechless. What do you say?

 

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by Dario

6 minutes ago, Dario said:

I'm still not getting used to Google Maps as a Navigator, I used now HERE We Go and that is what I want. It shows like on a Navi and shows speed limit as well as the speed I'm currently driving. Perfect. I made a short trip (15 km) to the nearest TEsco-Lotus to visit True. Now listen to this: I had not used my tablet for a few months as we have 3 computers at hom and wifi and I had not traveled, so I got a new number, then I asked for a package. Isaid that I don't need to call with my tablet, only need lots of GB so I can use a Navi. Tou won't believe what I got! It's prepaid 200 Baht per month (VAT included) and I get not 10 GB ... I get 100 (one hundred) GB per month! For only 200 Baht per month. I'm still speechless. What do you say?

 

An amazing deal! Which provider? You realise that some providers have poor coverage Don’t you?

 

these are some sygic screenshots 

 

 

this is the HUD in both normal and true HUD 

 

Edited November 3, 20196 yr by sometimewoodworker

11 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

An amazing deal! Which provider? You realise that some providers have poor coverage Don’t you?

 

The provider is True, has probably the best coverage in Thailand. Just go to any True shop. But you need a new SIM as the one I show as attachment. You c an also just pay 100 Baht and you'll get 50 GB. Simply incredible but true. I'll have a look at the software you mention.

6 hours ago, Dario said:

The provider is True, has probably the best coverage in Thailand. Just go to any True shop. But you need a new SIM as the one I show as attachment. You c an also just pay 100 Baht and you'll get 50 GB. Simply incredible but true. I'll have a look at the software you mention.

Incredible is absolutely the correct word. That deal isn’t on the website nor is the ontop package, I would be rather wary about it as it looks to be vastly bigger and cheaper than anything else available, around 30 X more data than anything else I’ve seen

Looks as too good to be true. But really, I only paid 249 Baht yesterday (49 Baht for the SIM card) and was told not to forget to pay again 200 Baht before Dec 3, as this is a prepaid deal.

On 11/3/2019 at 11:45 AM, Just Weird said:

This could be a reason...I just put in my Bangkok location with a destination in Khon Kaen, it gave an estimated journey time of 3D 18HRS but got the distance correct.

Turn off "walking" option. 

In the old days there were these things called maps. You learnt to understand them and navigate by them.

 

Then along came technology and the high tech approach and now people get lost.

 

Laziness is ok until technology gets a bug. Then you regret not knowing north from south or road numbers.

On 11/9/2019 at 8:41 PM, Denim said:

In the old days there were these things called maps. You learnt to understand them and navigate by them.

 

Then along came technology and the high tech approach and now people get lost.

 

Laziness is ok until technology gets a bug. Then you regret not knowing north from south or road numbers.

Yes I remember vividly trying to work out which of the many side streets was my turn, finding that it was a one way street, reading fine print, having the bloody thing slip to the floor from your knees, being picked up back to front and upside down, avoiding accidents and police telling you not to stop THERE. Maps were never forbidden by law from being used while driving, in many countries you're not supposed to even look at your GPS, "too distracting".

I don't get lost, never did, and have been driving over 50 years.