As I'm driving more and more these days, I've been thinking about getting a dash cam so I can have some video evidence just in case I'm involved in an accident. My word vs. their word, proof for insurance company, etc. Are there any brands you'd recommend? Can I install it myself or would it have to be installed for me? I'd like one in the front and one covering the back. Doable? 

Thanks in advance. 

I have front and rear cameras, I wouldn't drive without them, in my opinion.  There are many to choose from. From cheap to expensive. Get one that's hardwired into the car, not the cheap ones that you plug in.

Blackvue DR900S if you want a really good one. Cost depends on present promotion. Shop will install included in the price.

 

The DR900X is the latest model.

 

Yes it’s front and back.

Xiaomi 70mai A800s is an excellent system, a rear camera also available, an easy to use app enables download of videos directly to your phone ( ideal in case of an accident ).

Hardware kit available for parking surveillance.

Around 5k baht for the lot on Lazada.

Google them for the reviews and specs etc .

I have a front view Yi model 00D5 I bought three years ago from Lazada that is still working perfectly for around 2000 baht. I bought a clamp kit to install it under my rear view mirror and routed the wires around the trim and down to the 12 volt outlet where you can either just plug it in or run it behind the dash and connect in the back of the outlet to hardwire it.

Anything dashcam less than 1000 baht should be considered 'disposable'.

Up to 2000 baht should be more robust and deliver what's needed.

Up to 3000 baht should be more than adequate.

Anything costing more than that is overkill.

 

Also inquire with your car insurance as some offer a discount on your premium if you install a Dash cam!!

3 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Also inquire with your car insurance as some offer a discount on your premium if you install a Dash cam!!

Good to know!

NanLaew makes a good point about the price. However I haven't found one that will read number plates in all lights and at an angle for the price suggested.

 

Another point is do you, or do you not want one with GPS ie one that will record your speed. For some reason when you play back it always looks as though you are going much facter than you actually were. There are + and - to recoarding your speed of course.

54 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

NanLaew makes a good point about the price. However I haven't found one that will read number plates in all lights and at an angle for the price suggested.

 

Another point is do you, or do you not want one with GPS ie one that will record your speed. For some reason when you play back it always looks as though you are going much facter than you actually were. There are + and - to recoarding your speed of course.

You make a very good point about the speeds being recorded. I'm going to have Mrs Djayz check that with the insurance company. 

I do, often, but not always, have a heavy foot. I keep within the speed limits where it is sensible to do so. 

On 3/25/2022 at 1:59 PM, djayz said:

You make a very good point about the speeds being recorded. I'm going to have Mrs Djayz check that with the insurance company. 

I do, often, but not always, have a heavy foot. I keep within the speed limits where it is sensible to do so. 

When I was with AXA six years ago, I got the discount with photographic evidence of the dashcam installed and turned on. They also wanted a copy of the sales receipt.

 

I am now with roojai and it's a just check-box on the application form, no proof required.

 

I don't think that any insurance company is interested if the dashcam has GPS. It's certainly never mentioned as being required. It's primarily for visual evidence (if used).

 

Another drawback with the generic, lower budget dashcams is no clear indication when the memory card is full. On my current installation, after a few weeks, I used to get the momentary notification that the 'bump record' feature can't function due to lack of memory. That meant I needed to reformat the card so I make it a habit of viewing and reformatting the card once a week. No point in finding out after a prang that it hasn't been recording for 6 months!

 

Another thing to be aware of is the memory card. Some come with a 8 GB or 16 Gb card included. Some people opt to buy a bigger card. Some cheaper dashcams won't support these bigger cards. Also, there's a lot of fake memory cards on the local market that won't support the data streams from the higher-end dashcams.

The most useful place for DashCam info is dashcamtalk.com which has detailed excellent reviews, including samples in many cases and a comparison tool.  If you are looking for front and rear coverage, this one is very good .  We have the front only version installed in two cars but I'd upgrade to the dual camera set if I had to buy again.  Being able to review the video (and do settings) on a phone is a really worthwhile feature and well worth the extra expense.  I couldn't find a dealer in Chiang Mai but Dashcamthailand (that's their LINE ID, btw) in BKK proved to be a reliable supplier.  In Chiang Mai, Amnuay motorair did a very professional and quick job doing a hardwire install.

A couple of points. 

 

A memory card should never get full, it should be set to constantly overwrite the oldest file so neve get "full"

 

While GPS may not save you from a speeding fine. In an accident it would help to prove you were NOT speeding.

 

My dashcam if played on the dashcam player will show all the information, but play it on VLCplayer  it shwas just the movie without any of the information. Useful if you don't want to show your information. 

On 3/26/2022 at 6:47 PM, NanLaew said:

When I was with AXA six years ago, I got the discount with photographic evidence of the dashcam installed and turned on. They also wanted a copy of the sales receipt.

 

I am now with roojai and it's a just check-box on the application form, no proof required.

Roojai (and probably some other insurers) will make you pay a penalty if you can't produce the video from your camera if needed as part of a claim.  Makes sense as they only offer the discount to minimise their claims liability and it's a useful incentive for users to regularly check that their setup is working reliably.  I'd add the GPS is a must since that's what is used for recording speed which is critical information in the majority of incidents.

By the way, there's an application for windows and OSX called dashcamviewer which is brilliant for reviewing videos - the free version works fine but is a little limited in that you can only queue two videos at a time That sounds like a small inconvenience but when you may have an SD card with 100 three minute files it quickly gets tiresome to keep dragging the next pair in.  Well worth the cost of the Plus version in my experience.

On 4/5/2022 at 2:11 PM, Beachcomber said:

A memory card should never get full, it should be set to constantly overwrite the oldest file so neve get "full"

Some budget dashcams don't do this.

 

One of the issues I had with a cheap one was the g-shock detection. That takes a picture or runs a short recording in the event of an unattended impact with dashcam powered off. Despite adjusting the sensitivity, the card got filled with 'snapshots' that unlike the 3-minute video loops, didn't get auto deleted or overwritten.