Can anyone clear up few things when it comes to what GPS and what

software for laymen who get overwhelm with so many choices and

so much information out there?

 

Looking to buy a proper GPS unit to use in BKK and Thailand, what is the best

software so far, and can that software be installed in any GPS unit

or it has to be a Garmin GPS?

Can a notepad or similar, (not cellphones, screen too  small)

 be used as a GPS and loaded with that software?

is it better to buy the GPS unit here in Thailand or can it be bought

overseas and have the software installed here?

Thanks...

 

I find phone apps better. I have
A GPS gathering dust, as I havnt used it in about 7 years. Google maps/Wase/ViaMichelin/Sygic/inRoute/maps.me/Glympse are all good. Take your pick.


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I have found that the local ESRI Thailand map is the best available. The Thai sold Garmins have better options than the foreign bought units. I have both. The US Garmins won't work with some features. The cheapest Thai bought unit has lifetime free map updates. I have a tablet that can be used but I have found Sygic and Google maps leave a lot to be desired and are somewhat difficult to use. I like the Thai Garmins because I am a simple non techie who likes easy to use non techie devices. I have an in dash OEM GPS and I think it stinks. It is also difficult to use. Smartphones are hopeless but can be used in an emergency. Lots of people disagree with me but this is the way I see GPS units.

 

ADDED - I should have added that the US supplied Garmin Thailand map also stinks. I wasted a hundred US dollars to find that out. My Garmin cheap Nuvi 55 ( now obsolete) works better than all the other devices that I have tried. I think that if you have an up to date Thai bought unit with the latest ESRI map, you will never consider using anything else. I'll never buy another OEM in dash unit.

I use an iPad and if you want an offline app Sygic is the best. I also have tomtom and garmin and they are crap on the iPad.

 

google map is OK if you don't mind the data it needs.

the smart phones are rapidly outpacing the dedicated GPS units.  Garmin and those companies just can't update their hardware and software as quick as smart apps can. 

GPS units are only as good as their maps. Units that are able to use the ESRI offline Thailand maps have a huge advantage as far as navigating in Thailand. Maps having to rely on an Internet connection are a pain if you happen to lose the Internet signal. My in dash Isuzu GPS when I bought it in late 2015 did not have the Jomtien Second Road on the map. The map is called Igo. Since an update, it now has Jomtien Second Road but still does not have some of the roads in my area of Loei. The ESRI map even has the roads in my small village. Most maps will get you where you want to go if the location is in a populated area. If you are in the boonies, many roads are missing.

I bought an Garmin 2467LM (lifetime maps) unit from ESRI and I can use it in the truck or on my motorbike. I can (though I never have) use Bluetooth to interface with my semi smart phone and get the instructions that way. I came with both male a female voices and can be used in about 10 languages I think.

It has a 4.3 inch screen and gives me also max and average speeds, time remaining to destination, allows me to set my route preferences, highways or back roads etc, Proximity alerts to known speed cameras and traffic lights,  current time, direction of travel, elevation and current location, hundreds of POI including gas stations, shopping malls, banks, road that I am on and the next road coming up etc, all without referring to a mobile phone.

I am more than happy with that.

23 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

I use an iPad and if you want an offline app Sygic is the best. I also have tomtom and garmin and they are crap on the iPad.

 

google map is OK if you don't mind the data it needs.

Sygic has improved quite a bit, but roads in my area of the Loei boonies are not shown. Those roads are shown on ESRI and Google and even the Here map.

I have a Garmin Nuvi that I have been using in Thailand for several years. Every year I get my Thailand ESRI map updated to the most recent map at a shop at Tukcom for 500 baht. This year the shop had closed before I couid purchase my update. Does anyone know of a shop in Bangkok or Pattaya that would be able to download the latest Thailand map to my Garmin GPS ?   

I have a Garmin Nuvi that I have been using in Thailand for several years. Every year I get my Thailand ESRI map updated to the most recent map at a shop at Tukcom for 500 baht. This year the shop had closed before I couid purchase my update. Does anyone know of a shop in Bangkok or Pattaya that would be able to download the latest Thailand map to my Garmin GPS ?   

Pantip Plaza (maybe) ?


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I use a Garmin and i use open street map for Garmin which is free to use and updated regularly but i would not recommend rotweiler maps which you can buy for SE Asia as they have not updated for several years

1 hour ago, TBKK said:

I have a Garmin Nuvi that I have been using in Thailand for several years. Every year I get my Thailand ESRI map updated to the most recent map at a shop at Tukcom for 500 baht. This year the shop had closed before I couid purchase my update. Does anyone know of a shop in Bangkok or Pattaya that would be able to download the latest Thailand map to my Garmin GPS ?   

Try this-

http://download.garmin.com/th/download/manuals/How-to-update-new-map-from-garmin-th_EN.pdf 

If you are only going to use it in a city Garmin are ok. I have a Nuvi and it consistently gets lost or gives the wrong directions out here in the rural area. Actually I am sorry I purchased it as it was more expensive than a quality GPS in Oz.

I find phone apps better. I have
A GPS gathering dust, as I havnt used it in about 7 years. Google maps/Wase/ViaMichelin/Sygic/inRoute/maps.me/Glympse are all good. Take your pick.


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Absolutely agree. Software can be used on a tablet thingy with larger screen.
My preferred software for Android is Here. It is free and works offline, minus traffic updates.
Biggest challange wit GPS in Bangkok is lost signal. Especially when you have a toll road above you and buildings on either side.

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On 4/2/2017 at 8:02 AM, DILLIGAD said:

I find phone apps better. I have
A GPS gathering dust, as I havnt used it in about 7 years. Google maps/Wase/ViaMichelin/Sygic/inRoute/maps.me/Glympse are all good. Take your pick.


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Totally agree, GPS are useless.

 

 

In thailand standalone GPS forget it. Very limited services.

Use phone

1. Google maps, very good with live traffic etc. Free.

2. Sygic one time payment. Live traffic speed cameras etc. Quite good.

With this 2 u cant go wrong.

I tested most of apps and finds Google best.

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I bought a GPS in 2009 with no update and last November I bought a Garmin LM57 GPS with lifetime update but the problem with GPS s is the way they are programmed, I have seen about 5 different ways to spell a city name or street name and usually addresses are even more complicated, so it's not like back home where they have everything programmed in.  The one I have is for Thailand only but it doesn't matter, they are still a pain.  The one I got back home is for North America and has 6,000,000 points of interest, the one from Thailand has only 400,000, big difference.  As somebody mentioned they are a lot better products than GPSs on the market

I have Tom Tom and it is great here in Thailand not a problem in the 3 years I have been using it 

Google maps are useful for me. I frequently get coordinates from Google Map and program them into my Garmin. My Thai Garmin has never gotten me lost and has always taken me to the coordinates I input. I can't say the same for the US Garmin Thailand map. It has gotten me lost on more than one occasion. That was a totally wasted $100. I had thought the US Garmin Thailand map would work better on the US bought garmin. Wrong!

I think it depends on use and frequency.

 

For the amount of times I travel and need "guidance" I am happy with the phone app. It also doubles as a dashcam, so you have all you need in one device. Works for me and my circumstances.

23 hours ago, Xaos said:

In thailand standalone GPS forget it. Very limited services.

Use phone

1. Google maps, very good with live traffic etc. Free.

2. Sygic one time payment. Live traffic speed cameras etc. Quite good.

With this 2 u cant go wrong.

I tested most of apps and finds Google best.

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must disagree, i use a garmin nuvi  with open street map and find it works great and it is also a hands free phone when driving

Garmin I found to be extremely difficult to enter a destination name in. Even getting the address from a Thai, in Thai and entering it in Thai many times could not be found. Using the Garmin I eventually ended up finding the place myself and then updating the location where I was with the data.

 

google maps all the way for me

 

garmin was supposed to have lifetime map updates but doenot ( I think that was the vendor as opposed to Garmin in all fairness.

 

no competition in my book 

 

in any case the current Mrs Dark Lord who invariably accompanies me offering tips and advice on my driving skills, will override whatever system I am using by telling me to turn left here when I am balls deep in for lanes of stationary trafficker waiting until we have passed the shortcut turnoff that she knows of but chose not to share that info with me then asking why I did not turn off there? but I guess I am not alone there.

 

no matter what you use, be prepared to execute several u turns some official some with fingers crossed, when being navigated by an indig......

Before GPS units were widely available my wife served as my GPS. I have many stories about getting lost. One time in Bangkok, she had me go on a street that had very little traffic. A cop soon pulled me over and asked me why I was driving in a bus lane only. I pointed at my wife, he grinned and shook his head. We were actually quite close to our destination. He told me to follow him. He even held up traffic so we could get in the proper lane. Soon he pointed at a side road, waved at me and rode on. I didn't even have a chance to thank him. I wanted to stop a taxi and follow him but my GPS wife knew where to go. LOL! The cop charged me nothing.

 

ADDED - My wife actually did know where she was going. She said the bus always goes that way.

I have a garmin trek 20  works great, ( i wanted something that would work on a motorcycle and car and hiking) also brought maps for Thailand, Laos, Burma and Cambodia;  https://www.gpstravelmaps.com/

also use open maps

i also use Maps.me and google on my tablet,

when recently traveling in Burma and Cambodia in out of the way places, i found that my garmin worked better and was more accurate

Note a GPS works off satellites, a phone/tablet only works if u have sim reception..

I would strongly advise anyone wishing a map of Thailand NOT to purchase any Garmin Product.  They have just cancelled ALL of their "LIfe-Time-FreeMaps-Updates" on all of their4 units sold in Thailand.  They have just decided they WILL NOT honour any ESRI sales of Garmin GPS units made since 2015.

18 hours ago, Rotweiler said:

I would strongly advise anyone wishing a map of Thailand NOT to purchase any Garmin Product.  They have just cancelled ALL of their "LIfe-Time-FreeMaps-Updates" on all of their4 units sold in Thailand.  They have just decided they WILL NOT honour any ESRI sales of Garmin GPS units made since 2015.

Are you talking about the US Garmins? As far as I know, the LM (lifetime map) Garmins sold here in Thailand  are still giving the free updates. As far as I am concerned, Garmin support from the US leaves a lot to be desired and if they still sell a map for Thailand, you would be well advised to save your money. If you live here in Thailand, buy a Thai sold Garmin and the ESRI map.

All Garmin brand maps of Thailand are made and distributed by Garmin.  ESRI is no longer in the picture.

 

Garmin International and their Thailand subsidiary initially refused to update Thailand maps for all units purchased before October 2015, including all "Lifetime Maps" units sold in Thailand whether by Garmin or by ESI.   I have now been informed that Garmin cancelled that new policy late last night and Garmin will now honour all Lifetime Maps units that meet their "lifetime maps disclaimer".   That is a document well worth reading.

Get Sygic they use tomtom and its 1 off payment. Get live traffic.
https://www.sygic.com/gps-navigation


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TomTom is great in some parts of Europe.  It is totally useless in Thailand.

1 hour ago, Rotweiler said:

TomTom is great in some parts of Europe.  It is totally useless in Thailand.

Sygic uses Tomtom maps and is generally thought to be the best navigation app out there.