Can anyone help with SAT/NAV instructions?

[Jellybean]

Does anyone own and use a SAT/NAV in Thailand? If so, maybe you can help me.

I plan to drive up to Issan province in 2 weeks time. I bought a Garmin SAT/NAV on Friday and assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that it would be simple to operate. No matter what Thai destination I typed in, including Bangkok, the message тАЬno matchesтАЭ appeared!

I therefore enlisted the help of an English lady friend, who assured me that it was really easy to operate, and who owns a Garmin in the UK and she too was unable to get the damned thing to work. We followed all the тАЬeasy step by stepтАЭ instructions but got nowhere!

So I took it to my Thai teacher this morning and she converted the instructions to Thai and was able to get it to recognise several places in Bangkok. But when she converted it back to English we kept getting the тАЬno matchesтАЭ message. My teacher did say that she and her husband used a SAT/NAV (donтАЩt know which make) to drive from Bangkok to Phucket and ended up getting lost in Phucket. Her short advice was that they are not very good in Thailand. Is that your experience?

I then enlisted the help of my ex-Thai boyfriend and, again, almost the same story, the English version showed тАЬno matchesтАЭ when we typed in various destinations and the destination he typed in Thai kept giving us the wrong directions!

If I canтАЩt get it to work then I plan taking back to TescoтАЩs before Friday. I am sure someone out there must have the answer and itтАЩs probably blindingly obvious, but I just canтАЩt see it.

[Dodger]

Jellybean,

Unfortunatey, I don't know the first thing about a SAV/NAV - but a boy works better than a GPS when traveling Isaan any day of the week, e.g., costs less, knows the roads which aren't on the map, no instructions needed, and you can have sex with it.

Jellybean,

Unfortunatey, I don't know the first thing about a SAV/NAV - but a boy works better than a GPS when traveling Isaan any day of the week, e.g., costs less, knows the roads which aren't on the map, no instructions needed, and you can have sex with it.


" and you can have sex with IT. "

A bit crass I believe

" and you can have sex with IT. "

A bit crass I believe

Not at all.
Dodger has used the correct pronoun to describe his choice of partner - Ladyboys.
They are not "He's" , they are not real "She's" so IT must be the correct form.

[Patexpat]

We have a sat nav that we use quite successfully, but the key is being imaginative with the spelling of places you want to enter. For example, it doesn't find sisaket, or indeed si saket but is fine with si sa ket.

So not as easy to use as in the UK due to the translation of the place names!

I recently used a Garmin in Thailand and it worked flawlessly everywhere. That included voice commands so it was not even necessary to look at it.
Most major destinations are listed in the GO TO application. For example: if you click on POINTS OF INTEREST and then click on TRASIT and then click on AIRPORTS it will give you the option of every major and some minor airports in Thailand. Then all you have to do is click on the airport name and Garmin will drive you there just like the co pilot that you wish your boyfriend was. (<:)))
If you can't locate exactly what you are looking for just go to GO TO and locate some well known feture that is nearby and that should solve most of your problems. Exact addresses can be more problamatic as streets are constantly being altered, removed, modernized, etc.

[Geezer]

Jellybean, check your messages.

[Jellybean]

Thanks Dodger. Under normal circumstances I would happily have taken your advice, but on this occasion I am travelling with my ex to see his family in Issan province so no room for stowaways тАУ ha, ha, ha! My ex is not 100% sure about the directions to get from my apartment to the Don Muang area of Bangkok, after which he knows the directions to his home village. And, of course, on our return we will have the same problem in finding our way through Bangkok.

And at some point I would also like to begin using my car to drive down to Pattaya rather than spend 3,000 Baht on taxi fares for the round trip. I would also like to do American style тАЬroad tripsтАЭ around Thailand, starting with the Northern provinces. A SAT/NAV that worked would have been a fantastic tool for getting around.

Thanks also to Patexpat, Soi 10 Tom and Geezer for all their help. However, despite going to тАЬPoints of InterestтАЭ etc., and using airports and other points of interest as an example, the choice of destinations was shown in written Thai even although I had converted the three control panels to English or American English! The only place it seemed to recognise was TescoтАЩs! The voice of the very posh тАЬDanielтАЭ gave clear instructions to TescoтАЩs on Rama III where I purchased the unit. For a brief moment I thought, maybe I should search for the TescoтАЩs in every city and follow the directions that way!

Perhaps the GPS unit was faulty? Anyway, IтАЩve taken it back and will have to rely on the old fashioned method of using a map. Thanks again for all your help.

Prehaps you can go online, buy for $99USD, and then download Garmin's new map that is in English that covers all of SE Asia.

I have a Garmin I purchased in USA (about half the price wanted here for that model) and after returning to Thailand, obtained a Thailand map from Gadgetrend in Bangkok http://www.gadgetrend.com/index.php - cost was about 7,000 Baht as I recall with one free upgrade. The owner of Gadgetrend had given a presentation on the devices to the Pattaya City Expats Club and arranged a later date to come to Pattaya and provide "training" in its use (I didn't have one, but attended the training session as I planned to buy one in USA).

In the USA, it was easy to use - just type in the address where you want to go. However, that doesn't work in Thailand - as mentioned, the best method is to locate a point of interest near where you want to go - also, typing in a name may not get you what you want unless you spell it as it is in the Garmin system - you might consider typing in Don Muang (or select the Don Muang airport from points of interest) - the Garmin will give you directions to the airport - when in that area, your friend may be able to direct you. Getting back is not a problem -- before you start out, select your Pattaya location as Home (or make it a favorite and type in name of your choice). The coordinates are saved into memory. When returning, from anywhere in Thailand, select "home" (or name you used) as desired destination - Garmin will navigate you there.