Guest laurence Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Anyone have experience with GPS units for cars in Thailand? I am thinking of a GPS for the bf since he can't read a map. One choice is to buy outside of Thailand and the other is buy locally when there. It would be necessary that the GPS speak Thai with maybe English as an option. Any idea of price? Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Garmin has some nice units that speak and read both Thai and English. I have one from the US that I put the Thai database in, but it only speaks English. If I was starting over I would go to the Garmin dealer in Bangkok and buy direct. I believe you are looking at about $300 US for a good unit, but not sure on the price. If you need info on the dealer and direction, Geezer is your man, as he has all the info including the phone # etc. Quote
Gaybutton Posted November 25, 2008 Posted November 25, 2008 Geezer is your man, as he has all the info including the phone # etc. I can provide a little information too. The place to get the software is ESRI in Bangkok. Theior web site is: http://www.esrith.com/Eindex.cfm You might ask them if they have Thai-speaking software, but I don't think anything like that is yet available. You might want to have your boyfriend be the one who talks to them to find out what would work best for him. Make sure to get a Garmin GPS. I have the StreetPilot. I like that one because it easily mounts on the dash of the car and is easy to remove. It works beautifully for me. You might want to check into permanently installed types too. The NUVI series by Garmin is quite popular. I've seen several shops in Tuk Com, in Pattaya, that are selling different models of the Garmin GPS. I have not made inquiries, but I would guess they come with the Thai software pre-installed. Quote
Guest GaySacGuy Posted November 26, 2008 Posted November 26, 2008 Garmin now offers a GPS with both Thai and English language, both spoken and written. I was at ESRI in bangkok, and had the Thai database pup into my garmin GPS. They had the units for sale there with both languages, and the Thai database. I don't believe it was a whole lot more expensive than the database alone....I think about $300...but don't quote me..this was a year ago. Quote
Guest laurence Posted November 26, 2008 Posted November 26, 2008 Thanks for the info guys. When I am in Thailand in Jan, will first check at Tuk.com and, if necessary, I will go to Bangkok. Laurence Quote
Guest Steve1903 Posted November 26, 2008 Posted November 26, 2008 Any truth that in using a GPS in Thailand when you come to a junction it says "left or right, up to you"!! Quote
Guest laurence Posted November 27, 2008 Posted November 27, 2008 Any truth that in using a GPS in Thailand when you come to a junction it says "left or right, up to you"!! Well, that does bring up another question. I did read that, due to ambiguity with addresses in Thailand, the GPS user often has to use "landmarks" rather than a soi address. Anyone familiar with this? Quote
Gaybutton Posted November 27, 2008 Posted November 27, 2008 Well, that does bring up another question. I did read that, due to ambiguity with addresses in Thailand, the GPS user often has to use "landmarks" rather than a soi address. Anyone familiar with this? Yes. Sometimes the soi is listed and sometimes not, but it's usually easy to figure out. As far as actual addresses, those are not part of the map, although often the built-in information will tell you the address. The software map can stand some improvement, but generally it's amazingly thorough. My GPS has never failed to get me where I'm trying to go. Sometimes it can't get me to the exact location, but it certainly gets me close enough to easily find it. In my opinion, the best way to use a GPS is to regard it as a tool. Usually it can easily get you wherever it is you wish to go, but it doesn't have all the answers. Sometimes it can get you close, but you still often have to find the precise location on your own. The major negative, to me, is the spelling they use. Whoever came up with the spelling of a great many locations apparently made up his own. Very often, wherever it is you're trying to go is on the GPS map, but when you try to key in the spelling of the location all too often nothing will come up because a variation of the spelling was used. If that happens, you'll have to try variations of the spelling. Sometimes that doesn't even help. Sometimes even when you use the same spelling as the map uses, still nothing will come up. That's odd, to say the least. For example, on my map despite the fact that I spell the city of Khon Kaen the same way the map does, nothing comes up when I key it in. Geezer came up with a good work-around that often works. Instead of trying to find the location on the map, try using the hotels or attractions menu. Quite often that does the trick. I managed to find Khon Kaen that way. Quote
