Garmin maps for Thailand

Nov 21, 2010
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I am considering to buy an Garmin Zumo 220 in Europe (because here too expensive but if someone has one for sale second-hand ......) but how easy or difficult is it to install Thailand maps? And how much does it cost? The Zumo would be in Europe about 6000thb cheaper is as here.

Chang Noi
 
Mar 30, 2010
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Hi Chiang Noi,

Buy overseas and save yourself the tax.

All my friends have Garmins from the US including me and had no problem with any map in the region.

They don't restrict the GPS in any way for any region so you should be fine.

Just take it to the shop you buy the Map from and they should load it up for you and do the necessary. That is how it worked here in Bangkok for my friends that bought the Thailand map.

If you need any accessories.. go to www.gpscity.com they are out of Nevada.. Best part about this site is.. Fast, efficient and they send US postal service airmail.
Which doesn't seem to attract as much attention as DHL etc.. I usually have my gear in a week after ordering and US postal is much cheaper than DHL

Have three mounting kits for the Zumo 660 from this site.

Hope that helps
Brian
 
Feb 8, 2011
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All maps can be had for free on the internet and simple to install yourself...TSM ver 12 is the latest..
 
Mar 11, 2008
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TSM 12.1 is the latest of that one.. SEA6.5 is the garmin sales option..

Be aware tho, that ESRI have locked the 12.1 series maps so that advanced features will only work on the Thai OS units that they sell.. Its a horrible practice and I have raised it with garmin HQ multiple times as ESRI is the primary authorised reseller and garmin dealer so they should have some kind of control.

Basically features like 3d buildings, junction view, and possibly even lane assist will not work on a non Thai OS unit. These features of the ESRI 12.1 maps will only work on the Thai units.
 
Feb 8, 2011
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LivinLOS;280928 wrote: TSM 12.1 is the latest of that one.. SEA6.5 is the garmin sales option..

Be aware tho, that ESRI have locked the 12.1 series maps so that advanced features will only work on the Thai OS units that they sell.. Its a horrible practice and I have raised it with garmin HQ multiple times as ESRI is the primary authorised reseller and garmin dealer so they should have some kind of control.

Basically features like 3d buildings, junction view, and possibly even lane assist will not work on a non Thai OS unit. These features of the ESRI 12.1 maps will only work on the Thai units.
Are you saying that v12.1 ESRI is without 3d/lane assist and SEA6.5 OR just v12.1 wont have these features?

It dont matter to me much either way as i use a ZUMO 550 on 2 wheels and built in speed navi on 4 wheels..

Last night i stuck SEA 6.5 on both a Nuvo 360 and a Nuvo 3790T, both unlocked..for a friend.

Dirty trick if that is what they are doing, another import imbargo to enable thai unit sales only....agree with you, garmin should kick their arses...but if SEA works with these options enabled maybe garmin dont give a sh1t...
 
Mar 11, 2008
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SEA 6.5 does not have the junction view 3d buildings etc so cannot give it..

The ESRI map is the only map with the advanced features.. And to the best of my knowledge there are no hacks that can enable them. You cannot purchase this map legally and have it work. They are locked to Thai language OS units only, as sold by them here not grey import.

The whole appeal of garmin is its total map compatibility. By allowing one of their 'sole authorised dealer' who makes a huge deal about how they are the only source of garmin in Thailand, are linked directly from the garmin thailand site under the 'on the road category' and to every casual observer are essentially 'garmin in thailand' yet when garmin are challenged (more on this in a second) garmin wash thier hands and say "we cannot be expected to support every 3rd party map produced by others in the world. That would be a fair answer if the dealer / map / and product are not all pushed directly through multiple Garmin channels.

I have multiple times played a game with garmin, in emailing customer support and asking "if I buy expensive unit XXXX will it run all the maps that lane assist and 3d building features work on" first line western customer support fall over themselves explaining how wonderful it all will work.. Then wait a couple of weeks and contact back saying I have purchased this, I am now in Thailand and the Thai maps as sold linked from Garmin Thailand, do not work as you assured me in pre sale.. How do I get my refund.. This generally get escalated a few times until they understand as most garmin reps do not seem to know this is happening. Once the senior techs get involved suddenly the pre scripted answers and closed ranks come out.. I just keep requoting the promises that it would work without caveats back at them for a while.

I like garmin, I own many of them. But they are losing market share to phones and tablets, crashing in value and in doing this have undermined one of the key strengths they had. Total and absolute map compatibility over the range. They have done this with the only upside to protect a thai importers, high margin, little cartel like monopoly at the expense of the private users of the system. They cannot simply compete in a free market ?? No they have to try to retain super high margins, keep the units more expensive incountry, upset all their users, fragment their OS compatibility, for a thai distributor to not compete properly !! Thats one of the things that is a pet peeve in Thai business (cartels and protectionism instead of simply competing in a free market) and so I continue to **** with them.
 
Jan 9, 2010
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Hey Huskydog, I have a Zumo 550 and it does not support lane assist, 3D views and the junction view from any map vendor (as far as I know, please correct me if I'm wrong).
 
Nov 21, 2010
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Indeed it is just a matter of time when some smart ass will bring an Zumo-220-look-alike with Android system on the market.
But until that happens Garmin is for motorbikes the only serious & safe option. Yes I now use my Iphone and map-wise that works great but .... the Iphone is in a waterproof-case that has to be removed when leaving the bike somewhere. And that is an pain in the ass to do .... as of the Garmin clicks on/off very easy (maybe a bit too easy).

Chang Noi

LivinLOS;280930 wrote: SEA 6.5 does not have the junction view 3d buildings etc so cannot give it..

The ESRI map is the only map with the advanced features.. And to the best of my knowledge there are no hacks that can enable them. You cannot purchase this map legally and have it work. They are locked to Thai language OS units only, as sold by them here not grey import.

The whole appeal of garmin is its total map compatibility. By allowing one of their 'sole authorised dealer' who makes a huge deal about how they are the only source of garmin in Thailand, are linked directly from the garmin thailand site under the 'on the road category' and to every casual observer are essentially 'garmin in thailand' yet when garmin are challenged (more on this in a second) garmin wash thier hands and say "we cannot be expected to support every 3rd party map produced by others in the world. That would be a fair answer if the dealer / map / and product are not all pushed directly through multiple Garmin channels.

I have multiple times played a game with garmin, in emailing customer support and asking "if I buy expensive unit XXXX will it run all the maps that lane assist and 3d building features work on" first line western customer support fall over themselves explaining how wonderful it all will work.. Then wait a couple of weeks and contact back saying I have purchased this, I am now in Thailand and the Thai maps as sold linked from Garmin Thailand, do not work as you assured me in pre sale.. How do I get my refund.. This generally get escalated a few times until they understand as most garmin reps do not seem to know this is happening. Once the senior techs get involved suddenly the pre scripted answers and closed ranks come out.. I just keep requoting the promises that it would work without caveats back at them for a while.

I like garmin, I own many of them. But they are losing market share to phones and tablets, crashing in value and in doing this have undermined one of the key strengths they had. Total and absolute map compatibility over the range. They have done this with the only upside to protect a thai importers, high margin, little cartel like monopoly at the expense of the private users of the system. They cannot simply compete in a free market ?? No they have to try to retain super high margins, keep the units more expensive incountry, upset all their users, fragment their OS compatibility, for a thai distributor to not compete properly !! Thats one of the things that is a pet peeve in Thai business (cartels and protectionism instead of simply competing in a free market) and so I continue to **** with them.
 
Mar 30, 2010
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Chiang Noi,

I have been using an old ESRI map - a few years old before they encrypted them.

Use it in Bangkok and all over the country.. Only last trip to the Golden Triangle from Mae Sai did I find a couple of new roads not on it and they were just bypasses which were obvious which way to go.

All the hotel info still up to date.. No 3D or any of that other stuff mentioned above and have not noticed it missing..

I will check with my friend as he bought the latest ESRI Map a year ago.. He had to take it in to their office in Bangkok and they took it out the back and loaded everything and it worked fine.. US imported Garmin Zumo 220. If I remember correctly he did say something about them upgrading the firmware to a Thailand version - But I need to confirm I heard correctly. Don't know if that gave any of the things like 3D and lane assist etc after the upgrade.

No complaints from either of my friends using the latest ESRI maps on their imported Garmins. Except they don't know how the use the GPS LOL.

It was a while back now and reading these posts just jogged my memory.

But as mentioned already.. As long as the Map works with basic features.. Don't worry.. I am am a happy camper with the old 'out of date' map.

Will check with him and let you know..
 
Feb 8, 2011
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Yep agree, i use the (UK) Zumo 550, and the v12.1 map i downloaded and unlocked for free which works fine ....dont think my zumo could even use the 3d stuff ...not sure ? and i have no intensions of flashing the firmware to Thai to find out...gpsunderground.com is your friend..any map you could wish for and up to date too, along with the free un-locker it`s a breeze.
 
Mar 30, 2010
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From my friend Esat..

"What happened at ESRI is they uploaded the Thai map to my device.
No questions were asked about where I bought the device. I could be traveling to Thailand from the US and brought my Zumo with me.
I don't know if they have a new policy now but I did not have any issues.
Paid the 2,XXX baht they asked for and the device was up and running in less than an hour.
It did have lane and junction assist.

Cheers,
Esat"
 
Sep 19, 2006
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www.chiangmai-xcentre.com
Eagle GPS in Panthip Plaza here in Chiang Mai sell the Garmin Esri Map for 2000 baht. It comes on a Memory Card so You just put it in Your GPS and away You go. No Doubt if Your GPS has no Memory Card obviously they have to Load it on their Computer? The Map gets updated around every April to the new version. Updates are free for a few Years I think, after that they charge 100 Baht which is pretty good I think?
 
Nov 21, 2010
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It took while but I just bought an Garmin Nuvi 40. Very cheap at only 3999thb incl. an car mounting and and car-charging-cable. As I had already and RAM motorbike mount I only had to buy and RAM-cradle (450thb) and and Garmin charging cable straight to the battery (1800thb). If you would buy it all together the all RAM-mounting and GPS device would costs you aboyt 8000thb.

The device comes with Thailand map (ESRI) and with 1 free update. The device can use memory cards so you can add extra maps. The touch-screen is glove friendly and I made an 2000km trip with it and it is still in 100% working order. Of course it is not water-proof, although I did forget it once to take off with a little bit rain.

The only con for me is that the device has no cradle-contacts so you have to unplug and USB cable every time you take it off your bike. There is one other model (2465?) that has this and it does cost 6500thb I believe but I could not get the cradle for it. O and I am missing that I can not export KML files from the track I did ride (at least I did not find out how).

One other problem is that my Macbook is not detecting the device as USB-device so I can not register it or update the map. The problem could be the Mac OS or the USB cable. ButI have only 1 USB-cable and only Mac OS in house so still have to find someone with an Windows machine to test that.

Until now I am happy with it, it helped me already a few times to find the way out of small villages.
 
I just want to point out that this restrictive practice doesn't just happen in Thailand. In Malaysia and Singapore Garmin supply two FREE maps for their units, Malsingmaps and Malfreemaps. The former in Garmin-compiled NT version have lane assist and junction view, but it only functions on local units.

This is not a local agent doing it, it is Garmin themselves.
 
Apr 3, 2011
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Sometimes I have this issue when routing with the ESRI maps in Bangkok. Sometimes the GPSr tries to tell me to go on an elevated highway or a bridge, that have the sign "motorcycle not allowed", one time I didn't noticed the sign and got stopped and fine in the middle of the bridge. Although I have my routing activity set to "motorcycle driving". Does anybody know a way around this? Or at least a list of POIs marking the bridges you can't go through with a motorbike?
I wonder if this is a limitation of the map format, firmware of the GPSr (Garmin Montana), or these particular maps?
 
Mar 30, 2010
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heilong;291062 said:
Sometimes I have this issue when routing with the ESRI maps in Bangkok. Sometimes the GPSr tries to tell me to go on an elevated highway or a bridge, that have the sign "motorcycle not allowed", one time I didn't noticed the sign and got stopped and fine in the middle of the bridge. Although I have my routing activity set to "motorcycle driving". Does anybody know a way around this? Or at least a list of POIs marking the bridges you can't go through with a motorbike?
I wonder if this is a limitation of the map format, firmware of the GPSr (Garmin Montana), or these particular maps?[/QUOTE/]

Hi Gene,

Can't speak for others GPS devices. In my zumo 660 there is an option called avoidences. Here you can select toll roads, highways etc.

I had the reverse problem in Malaysia. They welcome bikes on the toll ways and free. Forgot to remove avoid tollways and had me going some interesting ways in to penang.

Hope to catch up with you soon.
Cheers
Brian ;
 
Apr 3, 2011
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brian_bkk;291069 wrote: Can't speak for others GPS devices. In my zumo 660 there is an option called avoidences. Here you can select toll roads, highways etc.
I am using the toll way avoidance option. However what I'm talking about are bridges and overpasses etc, some of which are allowed and some are not.
 
Mar 30, 2010
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heilong;291071 wrote: I am using the toll way avoidance option. However what I'm talking about are bridges and overpasses etc, some of which are allowed and some are not.
Ah, don't believe that level of detail for bikes is there.

Have to rely on poorly displayed signs
 
Apr 3, 2011
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Yeah, sometimes really poorly. At times I'm already on some road with no way back, when I see the sign that I shouldn't be there.
 

ray23

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Oct 14, 2005
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Ian Bungy;281029 wrote: Eagle GPS in Panthip Plaza here in Chiang Mai sell the Garmin Esri Map for 2000 baht. It comes on a Memory Card so You just put it in Your GPS and away You go. No Doubt if Your GPS has no Memory Card obviously they have to Load it on their Computer? The Map gets updated around every April to the new version. Updates are free for a few Years I think, after that they charge 100 Baht which is pretty good I think?
Ian just bought a new Zumo 550 guy bought it and it has let sit every since. As I live in Udon I'm wondering If I can just have them mail me the memory card. Does the English speaking guy still work there can't remember his name. The 450 served me well for years, This one was just a great buy.

Is it possible to do trip planning on the computer using this?
 
Sep 19, 2006
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www.chiangmai-xcentre.com
Hi Ray,
The Staff speak English so I am sure You will have No Problem. Just email them. Postage should be easy as well. I have a Zumo 550 and am now looking at the New Zumo 390? I don't do the Trip Planning etc but other Guys I know do. They have Map Source or something on there computer then just load it on their GPS. Good Luck.
 
Dec 1, 2013
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beddhist;299694 wrote: If the map is on a memory card then it is copy protected: you can copy it, but it won't work on any other card and you can't load it onto a PC easily. However, Garmin Basecamp will read the map from a connected GPS and you can then use it for planning, etc.
Well this used to be true but now there's - JaVaWa Device Manager - giving you the possibility to make your GPS device a virtual device avoiding the necessity to plug your device into the computer every time you want to reference a map in BaseCamp, you can copy, move, backup and restore your maps as you like, brilliant !!! http://www.javawa.nl/jdm_en.html