Sat Nav for Trip to Isaan?

[Jun]

I managed nicely for over 45 years with no sat nav, but have recently found google maps on my smart phone to be very useful.

1 In somewhere like Cambodia, I can just save an offline area of map, then just hire a cycle and head off into the countryside with the google phone to show me where I am.
2 In Sat Nav mode, it is fairly useful for navigating urban areas & it also has worthwhile traffic advice, presumably based on data from other Android phone users.
3 Once you have a google account, places stored on your google map on the PC can synch with the phone.

I have also used wifi only Android tablets for navigation. In this case, all you have to do is save an area of map onto the device in advance.

[Dick]

I use a TomTom satnav in UK - one with a modem built in so that it communicates with the satellite automatically without the need for a mobile phone connection. So there's no roaming/phone charges to worry about whichever country you're in. In the UK the service comes with traffic updates. 2yrs ago I bought as an add-in their SE Asia maps that includes Thailand, and the subscription includes 4 new maps each year. I now use TomTom whenever driving in Thailand, and although the traffic service isn't available, it otherwise performs accurately and reliably. The built-in search facility is handy to locate say a nearest supermarket, gas station, and so on when in unfamiliar areas.

In Thailand you won't find TomTom available on sale as you would in USA or Europe, and there's no Thai language support for its operating system. That hasn't deterred my Thai partner from using it as place names are still same and he understands common voice directions given in English e.g. after 300m turn left. His village is in the middle of nowhere in Ubon province, and TomTom has no difficulty accurately locating it. Without TomTom I would never for example be able to find my way to/from his village, and it has saved him getting lost driving out of Pattaya heading for Ubon or taking the right route after leaving the airport.

If I didn't already have TomTom then I would definitely buy one of the Garmin satnavs available for driving in Thailand, as they come with the Thai language option. You can it is true buy and download a satnav app for a smart phone, but they aren't as good as a dedicated satnav that also adds (to Thai eyes) kudos as another status symbol. So yes, I do recommend them.

[billyhouston]

My taxi, on the way to Manchester Airport, was using Google Maps, with its traffic information, to determine the best route to our destination. The information was well presented and appeared up to date but, naturally, this requires a data connection. Running Sygic on a smartphone for a number of years, I've found that coverage of Thailand has much improved and, as I understand it, Sygic uses TomTom maps. Unlike TomTom, Sygic has support for Thai language..... as well as Vietnamese, if that's of any use.

[Geezer]

I decided to download SYGIC on my Android for a trial. I stopped when they said they must have access to my contacts.
They want me to give them the phone numbers of all my friends?

Both of them?

Forget it.

[Gaybutton]

They want me to give them the phone numbers of all my friends?

I gave the access to my contacts. One of those contacts is you. Anybody from Sygic been calling you?

I don't have a problem with it. I've had many programs asking for access to my contacts, ranging from Email programs to phone dialer programs.

Actually they're not the slightest bit interested in your contacts. Part of the software includes sharing your location, if you wish, with anyone on your contact list - which isn't a bad idea if you're stranded somewhere and need help. Sending your location to one of your contacts can make it easy to find you if you're somewhere, but don't know how to describe precisely where you are.

Don't be so paranoid. There is no sinister intent. Nobody from Sygic is sitting there making note of your contacts.

You could always download it, try it, and uninstall it if you don't like it.

[Geezer]

You could always download it, try it, and uninstall it if you don't like it.

OK I may try it, but I don't want to hear any whining when the calls from insurance salesmen begin.

[Gaybutton]

I don't want to hear any whining when the calls from insurance salesmen begin.

I won't whine about that. I do my whining when I get calls from somebody trying to sell me a new roof . . .

[christianpfc]

Before I bought a smartphone, I used paper maps for navigation in Thailand. Digital maps is a great advancement, nowadays I use paper maps only to prepare trips (because when I unfold them, they are much bigger than my computer screen).

I have been using google maps and their navigation system for estimated over 5000 km trips all over Thailand with a Farang friend in his car, and is has everything we need. However, there are some mistakes in google maps, now I check all points we want to visit at home (satellite pictures and pictures uploaded by visitors) to make sure everything is alright. Don't know how SatNav systems compare regarding errors.

The ability to zoom in and out is a great advantage over paper maps. I would advise taking your SatNav from your car, or buying a smartphone or a SatNav in Thailand, or ask your accompanying Thai friends to use google maps on their smartphone. One of you has to know the place you are going to to put it into google maps / SatNav.

[TomUK]

After careful consideration I have concluded that a SatNav wouldn't be worth buying for just a few days use in Thailand once or twice a year. I will be looking into buying a smartphone instead when I am in Pattaya. I bought my last two phones in Pattaya but the shop I used to go to has now closed.

Does anybody have any recommendations where to buy a smartphone in Pattaya or Buri Ram or Roi Et? I won't be going to Bangkok. Which smartphone would you recommend? I have a pay as you go sim card in the UK and a 1-2-call sim card for Thailand. I am not interest in the latest high end model but a resonable priced phone which will last for a couple of years. It doesn't need to be able to switch on the kettle but allowing me to make phone calls would be a nice feature.

[Gaybutton]

Does anybody have any recommendations where to buy a smartphone in Pattaya

My first recommendation would be where not to buy it. I don't recommend buying it at Tuk Com. Most of the phone shops are perfectly honest, but there are still some that will try to sell a counterfeit.

One phone shop I like can be found at Big-C, Pattaya Tai. As you face the cash registers as you exit Big-C, there is a phone shop as you exit on the far right. I've bought there before, found their prices to be less expensive than most everywhere else, and you get a reliable new phone.