i need to buy a decent navigator while i am in thailand, i am ok while driving outside bangkok but while in bkk im usually getting lost the place is just so big, thanks

Garmin nuvi 205 complete with Thailand Street Map is 4,900 baht, 205W (wide screen) is 7,900 baht. Prices and features go up from there.The nuvi 205 is more than adequate for keeping you from getting lost in Bangkok or anywhere else in Thailand. Both Bangkok and Chiang Mai have major Garmin dealers, a lot of retailers also carry the band.

Edited September 24, 201015 yr by InterestedObserver

Not sure how much use they are in Bangkok. In the UK the system is so easy in that inputing a destination can simply be achieved by using the postcode. Postcodes obviously do exist here but seem to cover quite large areas.

I'm going to be a real dumb arse here and assume that a Thai GPS system won't recognize if you input a destination in the English alphabet eg Khon Kaen because of the multitude of possible spellings for certain places.

Another thing is I borrowed a mate's Mu-7 with that I-Genie system and every single place name my wife entered in Thai the thing didn't recognize. I promise you it wasn't her spelling! In the end we had to access the menu region by region and filter down the possibilities from the list of things like " schools", " hotels" etc. Unless we were doing something wrong it was a right pain in the arse.

Thailand Street Maps comes in two versions, English language map and Thai language map, only one version can be entered to memory at the same time.The Roman (Latin) alphabet is used with the English language map. The Thai to English translation is a continuing problem when entering destinations. You are not the first person to have a problem with spelling the names in the data base.

Edited September 24, 201015 yr by InterestedObserver

Cheers. I thought it was me being a complete knob. I suppose the best thing to do is to get the latitude and longitude from google earth before a trip and simply enter the coordinates.

How do these things work, you pay for the unit and the GPRS access per month?

How do these things work, you pay for the unit and the GPRS access per month?

No, you just buy the unit. The maps are stored in it. It uses satellites (GPS global positioning satellites) to pin point your position then, via the map, you select a destination and the unit guides you there.

I think some may have extra features that you can pay a monthly fee for like traffic updates and so on, but they're basically, buy one, plug it in and off you go driving into a river cos it's told you it's a road, type things

I used one up in Chiang Rai when I hired a truck for a couple of days, worked fine.

Edited September 24, 201015 yr by bifftastic

I'm going to be a real dumb arse here and assume that a Thai GPS system won't recognize if you input a destination in the English alphabet eg Khon Kaen because of the multitude of possible spellings for certain places.

Another thing is I borrowed a mate's Mu-7 with that I-Genie system and every single place name my wife entered in Thai the thing didn't recognize. I promise you it wasn't her spelling! In the end we had to access the menu region by region and filter down the possibilities from the list of things like " schools", " hotels" etc. Unless we were doing something wrong it was a right pain in the arse.

HI

Its not always easy, in Phuket everybody know Patong, but Garmin dont, it spell it Pa tong so if you dont know 100% how to spell it your lost, i use same as you hotel or shops, even some eating places are in

Edited September 24, 201015 yr by HDRIDER

Thanks. Nice to know I wasn't going crazy!

Simply ensure you arrive in Bkk after midnight, park up at the hotel and then abandon your car for the duration, who wants to drive in that hel_l-hole anyway? Taxis aren't a great deal more expensive, and those guys' knowledge of the sois easily surpasses any gadget anyday.

Getting lost often part & parcel of discovering new stuff anyway! Navigators; for those who like to be told what to do.

Where's your sense of adventure?!

Taxis aren't a great deal more expensive, and those guys' knowledge of the sois easily surpasses any gadget anyday.

Don't bet on that.

Getting lost often part & parcel of discovering new stuff anyway! Navigators; for those who like to be told what to do.

Where's your sense of adventure?!

Wait until you come onto a junction, have a split second to decide which fork to take, and end up on some elevated highway, stuck in traffic, and going in the opposite direction to the one you wanted to be - and with the next u-turn miles ahead. It's not fun and no amount of adventure-spirit is going to change that.

Purchased a Garmin Nuvi 205W (English version) from Gadget Trend here in Bangkok almost three years ago... got a recent map update for about 550 THB.

On the road it works well, but difficult to plug-in and find destinations. I think this is because the English/Thai place name spellings are inconsistent.

Best thing to do with it is to find your destination on Google Earth first, manually grab the coordinates to the "front door" of where ever it is you are going and then plug them in to the GPS. It's allowed me to drive from my Bangkok doorstep to a specific place in Khon Kaen province almost six hours away. This method also helps in finding specific places that are not on the GPS unit itself. The Nuvi has quite a few featured destinations and is able to find a type of destination (all shopping) within a ±5-km radius.

My favorite feature would have to be the button that says "Go Home". It's like an undo button for getting lost.

Edited October 14, 201015 yr by Moebius87

For Laos you're better off with a mapping GPS such as a garmin 60 csx or the new Garmin 62s as there are so many dirt roads. There is a new Laos gps map that has been released with 50,000 points of interest and all dirts trails