Sat Nav For Thailand & Se Asia

[jkinbkk]

At what level of development and accuracy are the current Garmin or Tom Tom SatNav systems for getting about in Thailand or SE Asia?

Is it yet realistic to expect the same ‘door to door’ accuracy associated with use of these same systems in Europe, US or Australia?

[mikethevigoman]

At what level of development and accuracy are the current Garmin or Tom Tom SatNav systems for getting about in Thailand or SE Asia?

Is it yet realistic to expect the same 'door to door' accuracy associated with use of these same systems in Europe, US or Australia?

the garmin is good ,however not as good as in the uk etc where it will ask you for a house number and tell you what side of the road the house is on !,. i once told a friend of mine that it told me the address was 100 yards on the left with a blue front door and he beleived me !

[Gary A]

At what level of development and accuracy are the current Garmin or Tom Tom SatNav systems for getting about in Thailand or SE Asia?

Is it yet realistic to expect the same ‘door to door’ accuracy associated with use of these same systems in Europe, US or Australia?

I use a Garmin with the ESRI Thailand map. It is VERY accurate as far as roads and streets but if you are looking for an address, you will be disappointed. If you have the coordinates it will take you right there. I sometimes get coordinates from Google Earth and find them amazingly accurate. I think the Thai address system is simply not good enough or logical enough to program into a map.

[britmaveric]

Totally agree with Gary!!!

[monty]

Also very satisfied with the ESRI maps for Thailand, using them on a MIO C220.

Indeed not the address capability as in the West, but lots hotels, hospitals, landmarks etc programmed in, so easy to get at least in the neighborhood of where you want to end up!

[P76]

I am driving around Thailand now using a Garmin GPS. I find it very good. Petchburi car rent have a maximum charge of 2000bht per rental for the unit. Not bad considering I will have it for 5 weeks. Saves a lot of frustration, time and petrol.

[peter991]

Nokia is currently running an advertisment on Australian pay-TV (Foxtel and Austar) which shows a farang needing to get from a Bangkok address to Lumpini Stadium.

The farang gets in a tuk-tuk and the Nokia 6110 Communicator - with built in GPS saves the day by showing the best route. I'm not sure how successful they are in real life - couldn't find one at MBK a couple of weeks ago.

Peter

[corkscrew]

Nokia is currently running an advertisment on Australian pay-TV (Foxtel and Austar) which shows a farang needing to get from a Bangkok address to Lumpini Stadium.

The farang gets in a tuk-tuk and the Nokia 6110 Communicator - with built in GPS saves the day by showing the best route. I'm not sure how successful they are in real life - couldn't find one at MBK a couple of weeks ago.

Peter

I've also seen that ad on Star TV. I haven't looked for the model yet. I am rather happy with my Garmin. It takes me all over Bangkok and back home again.

[quiksilva]

I use the voice navigation on my Nokia N95 to guide me the right street after that I use the Mark 1 eyeball. I have used this in Singapore, throughout Bangkok (it knows lots of small sois and can calculate new routes on the fly to a good degree of accuracy) and down to Hua Hin and Rayong (even knew small lanes within Mathaphut Industrial Estate).

Its well worth the money.

[citizen33]

I was considering buying a unit that would work in both Thailand and the UK, and read one or two past threads without coming to any conclusion about what to buy. We are lucky in the UK as regards price, and one scenario I wondered about is to buy a Garmin Nuvi or Street Pilot in Britain and get a Thai SD card. The only problem is that the Garmin Thailand map card is very pricey at about GBP170, and this made me wonder if the Nuvi 200 in Thailand at around 14000 baht, plus a UK SD card (£50), is a better bet. The other option some people have talked about is the third-party Rotweiler map. The downside here as I understand it is that the routing and location search doesn't work properly on the newer Nuvis and Street Pilots. I wondered why Gary A who seemed keen on the Rotweiler software in earlier posts now says he uses the (expensive) ESRI maps. In my current state of indecision I wonder if it is better to postpone a purchase until a clear market leader emerges at a slightly more reasonable price.

[sibeymai]

I use a Garmin eTrex Vista with the ESRI map. It works very well but does not "talk" like Nuvi's or Street Pilots, but still there is plenty of directional information to get from A to B. However, it is hand held which has plusses and minuses. It's accuracy can be as good as 1-2 meters if the position is "averaged" for about 5 minutes before fixing. I've heard it might be possible the Japanese MSAS differential system could be utilised if the Garmin firmware could be changed from the WAAS channels. Then accuracy to 10 centimeters might be possible.

If anyone has been able to use MSAS correction on a Garmin unit I'd be interested to know how.

[Rooo]

Nokia is currently running an advertisment on Australian pay-TV (Foxtel and Austar) which shows a farang needing to get from a Bangkok address to Lumpini Stadium.

The farang gets in a tuk-tuk and the Nokia 6110 Communicator - with built in GPS saves the day by showing the best route. I'm not sure how successful they are in real life - couldn't find one at MBK a couple of weeks ago.

Peter

I have a 6110, coverage is only for major cities, Bangkok, Singapore,Sydney .Still trying to figure out how it works.Bought it here in Samui, Bht 11,000.00

[Dave the Dude]

I think its safe to say that TomTom is not available here in Thailand and I would therefor not recommend bringing one from the UK. ALL GPS systems are not as advanced as that in the Uk and I have a Mio520 that uses ESRI mapping and I am very pleased with its performance.

Dave

[Gary A]

I was considering buying a unit that would work in both Thailand and the UK, and read one or two past threads without coming to any conclusion about what to buy. We are lucky in the UK as regards price, and one scenario I wondered about is to buy a Garmin Nuvi or Street Pilot in Britain and get a Thai SD card. The only problem is that the Garmin Thailand map card is very pricey at about GBP170, and this made me wonder if the Nuvi 200 in Thailand at around 14000 baht, plus a UK SD card (£50), is a better bet. The other option some people have talked about is the third-party Rotweiler map. The downside here as I understand it is that the routing and location search doesn't work properly on the newer Nuvis and Street Pilots. I wondered why Gary A who seemed keen on the Rotweiler software in earlier posts now says he uses the (expensive) ESRI maps. In my current state of indecision I wonder if it is better to postpone a purchase until a clear market leader emerges at a slightly more reasonable price.

Using Rotweiler, unfortunately you don't see the errors until you are actually there and the unit tells you you are off route when you are still on the road it told you to use. Another glitch is when you have several places fairly close to each other and it gives a different route for each place. The maps are usable but the more you use them, the more problems crop up. I have a 2610 Street Piliot and it had more problems with Rotweiler than my eTrex Legend CX. Gadget Trend lowered their map price from 12,000 baht to 7,000 baht so I went ahead and had the ESRI map put on the 2610. It too has some glitches but not nearly as many as Rotweiler. You can now buy the ESRI map from Garmin US for $119.95. The map comes on a Micro card and that card won't work in my 2610. The Garmin web site has a list of compatible units and the 2610 is not listed. I'm happy with the ESRI maps on the 2610 and the Rotweiler map on my eTrex. One big advantage for Rotweiler is that he gives map code unlock numbers for two units and the map can be used on your home or laptop computer. The ESRI maps CANNOT be used on your computer. GPS in Thailand is not perfect but I wouldn't be without it.

Both ESRI and Rotweiler maps are VERY accurate as far as coordinates. I have no problems with either of them as far as accuracy and both will get you back home if you get lost.

As a side note, I'm very impressed with Google maps but so far there is no way to use them other than on a cell phone and on the cell phone they are in the Thai language. I have never seen the Nokia maps.