The North Thailand Road & Off-Road printed map & the North Thailand Off-Road and tarmac GPS map, both having amazing detail of the region, having more off-road tracks than any other map available. All the data is from GPS recordings, so very accurate

More info in the link below:

http://www.thaivisa....tarmac-gps-map/

(Problem is that I just cannot find a place in BKK that can laminate anything bigger than A3.

Strange, but I've tried quite hard, in vain.)

What we did was get jpgs of the maps (not sure if they were direct from RTSD or we scanned the paper prints from RTSD), then printed that at a print shop on weather proof paper.

Personally I don't like hard copies, and just used the jpgs in a tablet/phone GPS navigator.

At last I found a shop that can laminate A2 and also A1.

Asia Copy on Sukhumvit, Washington Square.

Print Express in The Mall, Bang Kapi can laminate A2.

Just in case someone needs to laminate big size.

The new Garmin Montana 600 series GPS's are amazing GPS's, I've just installed mine and am very impressed (I have 5 Garmin GPS's and I always now reach for this one).

There's a write up with lots of info in the link below:

Link to review of the Garmin Montana 600 series GPS

When Garmin ditches the resistive touchscreen in favor of the more readable and more durable capacitive type, I will buy another Garmin. My Zumo is useless outdoors, because the screen isn't bright enough to overcome the opacity of the crappy resistive touchscreen, and the touch accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Any smartphone with a capacitive touchscreen is easier to read, and to navigate the menus.

Anyone want a near-new Zumo 220, with ESRI maps? Feh.

You can't beat the Galaxy Tab + Orux maps (free).

I'm using 'Google Terrain' to provide my maps, download the maps you intend to use from wi-fi, then save them to use offline.

Here is a walk I recorded earlier today. This is on a Galaxy Tab 7", secondhand for about 9kbht.

You can zoom in to the maps as much as you like, portrait or landscape mode. You can also load and save tracks in most formats, as well as email them straight from Orux Maps on the Tab.

It does everything the Garmin Oregon can do, plus loads more.

You can also run most of the road navigation programmes on it (at extra charge)

Yes, I like to use latest Royal Thai Survey Dept maps on Orux with an Android (I use my Galaxy s2 Phone with the benefit of good display as well) in a weather proof case. There's a software called OruxMapsDesktop that can make an Orux map from any georectified map file on a computer - which is how I get the RTSD maps in there. Other countries depends, maybe Google Maps is as good as can get. That along with Sygic road navigation for Android (side loaded for review purposes) has made my Garmin gear redundant.

Which format (electronic) is used for the new 1:50 000 government maps?

How much do they charge for the electronic version?

The format that you buy from the Survey Dept, can it be dumped straight into

the average GPS device and/or smart phone?

Or would it be necessary to electronically massage the data with some software before use in a GPS or smart phone?

Which format (electronic) is used for the new 1:50 000 government maps?

How much do they charge for the electronic version?

The format that you buy from the Survey Dept, can it be dumped straight into

the average GPS device and/or smart phone?

Or would it be necessary to electronically massage the data with some software before use in a GPS or smart phone?

I believe to load a scanned map onto a smart phone, you need to calibrate it using OziExplorer software, then run this calibrated map through the Orux desktop software to get a map you can use with oruxmaps. I've not bought my smart phone yet, so I'm not 100% on this. I also believe the govt maps are simply scanned image files, suitable for calibrating with OziExplorer.

Lots of info & tutorials on the Orux Maps website & forum.

ta,

sounds to be a bit on the timeconsuming side for me

mebbee I just stick with my folded and laminated 1:50 000 paper charts

Which format (electronic) is used for the new 1:50 000 government maps?

How much do they charge for the electronic version?

The format that you buy from the Survey Dept, can it be dumped straight into

the average GPS device and/or smart phone?

Or would it be necessary to electronically massage the data with some software before use in a GPS or smart phone?

I believe to load a scanned map onto a smart phone, you need to calibrate it using OziExplorer software, then run this calibrated map through the Orux desktop software to get a map you can use with oruxmaps. I've not bought my smart phone yet, so I'm not 100% on this. I also believe the govt maps are simply scanned image files, suitable for calibrating with OziExplorer.

Lots of info & tutorials on the Orux Maps website & forum.

That's about right. If you can get your hand on Global Mapper software for PC - it's a lot better than OziEplorer and can make calibrated maps for Orux desktop.