Hi everybody,

can some of you give me advice about what brand and/or type of GPS is best to buy for use in Thailand.

Next may i come back and rent a car for 20 days. You all know they charge 200bht/day for renting a GPS so it is much better to now finaly buy one.

I checked the forum and the last post about this is already 2 y ago so i guess high tech things get better by the minute.

Please if possible also a good place in Bkk where i can buy it.

Admin i wasn't sure this post should be in the traveling forum. So please be so kind to replace it if needed.

Thx all for your advice.

Kind regards,

Foexie

Try MBK or Phantip(-sp-) Plaza Several direct suppliers for Garmin and not the family shops. You can find any number of different Garmin models that will work in other countries by merely changing the micro chip mapping program. But do buy a map created by the Thai mapping company ESRI. Garmin's SEA map program is crap. The Thai program does have English but the map often will only display in Thai. You can check it out first at the store before you buy it. Expect to pay at 6,000B or more for the good ones.

Moved to GPS Forum.

You can also buy the unit direct from ESRI and they will give you free upgrades for a year, and the sell upgrades for 400 after the year is up.

do you not have a smart phone, many have them already on them.

Seems almost pointless buying a seperate GPS system when, nowadays, most smartphones have Google Maps. I use my Sony Phone to navigate my way around UK, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. By car and motorbike.

If you have Android phone, then you can get Sygic it's free to use, if you premium features it's about €15 for life (Thailand)

I use Copilot on my android phone. Offline map of Thailand in English and with English voice turn alerts. The app is free without voice alerts or a 1,000 baht lifetime payment with free map upgrades.

That's even a better solution.

Hi again,

thank you all for your help.

No i don't have a smartphone and honnestly i prefer a stand alone GPS system.

In my car at home i have a build in one also so i don't need the aplication on my Phone here neither.

I noticed nobody talks about TomTom so i guess those aren't available in Thailand .

Regards,

^ you can get stand alone systems, you probably won't recognise any of the brands, and they go for around 3000B

There is a Garmin shop in Fortune town,. It is on the first floor (amongst the phone shops), left hand side 20 metres before you go into Tesco. I also see that Garmin are selling some models for as little as 3000, 4000 baht with lifetime upgrades. To get to Fortune town, get off the MRt at Rama 9.

I like the Garmin OS better than the Tom-Tom. Your OEM unit may have a Garmin OS, I know mine does.

Go down and play with them and figure out what OS you like before you get here.

The last time I was in a Tesco/Lotus store they had some Garmin Nuvis for sale. I think the cheapest was around 3500 baht.

This one has just been discounted.

https://store.gpssociety.com/en/gps-garmin-nüvi-55-thai

It also has free lifetime maps

A few of my friends and I use the Garmin Nuvi 55. It's about the least expensive model, but works well, just without all the other bells and whistles (I don't need one to play MP3 songs, use as a "Kindle", etc.). Nice thing about Garmin is you can use Google Maps to route and import to the system, or use the Basecamp that is available. I had a German version, but you could only route on the GPS itself, which made changing the route quite difficult, plus as mentioned above, finding destinations was not easy was many were only in Thai. My one friend rode to Hua Hin from Chiang Mai and back, routed him without any issues.

There is a Garmin shop in Fortune town,. It is on the first floor (amongst the phone shops), left hand side 20 metres before you go into Tesco. I also see that Garmin are selling some models for as little as 3000, 4000 baht with lifetime upgrades. To get to Fortune town, get off the MRt at Rama 9.

Purchased my Garmin from here. They speak English and set mine up for me and made sure I was happy with it before I left the shop. Very good service and I have used mine quite a lot now and it has not let me down yet.

The rental company tried to give me a old garmin unit but i didn't want it.

I use my iphone with google maps. Works great. Just need a basic internet package.

On 3/7/2015 at 6:28 PM, Lucifer said:

Seems almost pointless buying a seperate GPS system when, nowadays, most smartphones have Google Maps. I use my Sony Phone to navigate my way around UK, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. By car and motorbike.

Until you loose your network signal,then google map no longer works.

1 hour ago, Bangkok or bust said:

Until you loose your network signal,then google map no longer works.

  Or you get a phone call right around a critical junction.

Sure, the best is a separate GPS , many advantages

I like Eagle GPS in Chiang Mai because of the excellent support and a farang manager. They will ship right to your front door;

 

http://www.eaglegps.co.th/index.php/en/products/automotive-main-menu1

On ‎29‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 9:52 AM, Bangkok or bust said:

Until you loose your network signal,then google map no longer works.

 

On ‎29‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 11:01 AM, impulse said:

  Or you get a phone call right around a critical junction.

Hi guys,

 

thx for still replying my question.

 

Last year i did use my mobile ( SAMSUNG S5) but that didn't work perfect at all.

 

When i arrived at the airport i went downstairs to buy a sim from True but many times i did need to use the wifi in the hotel and "preprogrammed" my tour of the day before leaving.

When driving around ( area Surat and going more to the south) it was very hard to change the destination even when i stopped in or near a town next to the road. Or lost signal. But the Phone signal was mostly there.

 

2 Years ago with my exgf we went to the north and also visited Krabi and her Phone (iPhone 4) did work much better (have no idea anymore what provider she used but she was anti Taksin so it wasn't "his" company for sure   ).

 

Could it have been a wrong set up from the Phone/wifi (although i think on is on) or do you recommend an other provider in Thailand?

 

Regards,

 

 

AIS seems to have the best coverage in Thailand, never let me down. I tried using Androids for navigation as they have a larger screen than the iPhone. I won't be doing that again. 

However now that Garmin will accept Google bookmarks as destinations and as my old iPhone won't live much longer I will probably buy something like the Garmin 57 soon. 

15 hours ago, cooked said:

AIS seems to have the best coverage in Thailand, never let me down. I tried using Androids for navigation as they have a larger screen than the iPhone. I won't be doing that again. 

However now that Garmin will accept Google bookmarks as destinations and as my old iPhone won't live much longer I will probably buy something like the Garmin 57 soon. 

Ok thanks.

 

I will try AIS then next month.

 

Haven't searched or looked for them at Suv. Are they also available there?

 

Regards,

3 hours ago, Foexie said:

Ok thanks.

 

I will try AIS then next month.

 

Haven't searched or looked for them at Suv. Are they also available there?

 

Regards,

AIS are represented at the airport, yes.

On 2/12/2017 at 4:44 PM, Foexie said:

 

Hi guys,

 

thx for still replying my question.

 

Last year i did use my mobile ( SAMSUNG S5) but that didn't work perfect at all.

 

When i arrived at the airport i went downstairs to buy a sim from True but many times i did need to use the wifi in the hotel and "preprogrammed" my tour of the day before leaving.

When driving around ( area Surat and going more to the south) it was very hard to change the destination even when i stopped in or near a town next to the road. Or lost signal. But the Phone signal was mostly there.

 

2 Years ago with my exgf we went to the north and also visited Krabi and her Phone (iPhone 4) did work much better (have no idea anymore what provider she used but she was anti Taksin so it wasn't "his" company for sure   ).

 

Could it have been a wrong set up from the Phone/wifi (although i think on is on) or do you recommend an other provider in Thailand?

 

Regards,

 

 

AIS for sure is the best,then true,then dtac. I have all 3.