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Home » Reader question » Thailand question: Cycling with Google Maps
Thailand question: Cycling with Google Maps
Dear readers,
Does anyone have experience cycling in Thailand with Google Maps with an earpiece? I want to plot routes in Maps, and cycle them by voice through the earpiece so that the phone can stay in my pocket.
Have previously used Garmin but this is so user-unfriendly that I am looking for an alternative.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
Willy
Editors: Do you have a question for the readers of Thailandblog? Use it contact form..
Dear Willy,
In Thailand I have little experience with this. All the more so in the Netherlands.
I have mounted a phone holder on the handlebars so that you can also see the route.
This works a lot more pleasantly and better than just on speech.
The speech sometimes makes you turn off when it only means to drive straight ahead on the other side of the road. You are also less likely to miss a (bicycle) path if it is not so noticeable between the other roads, etc.
You can also cycle without an earpiece. I like it very much and costs a few euros.
Happy trips!
Best??
Tried it with a phone on the handlebars, but my phone can't stand the heat for long, and the battery won't last for a ride of 80 to 129 km….
Willy, will your mobi last in your pocket in that heat and all those hours? I don't believe that. Thailand is hot. Or are you coming in winter? Then you have a chance.
Then do what I always did: compass in my pocket and a paper copy of the route. Then you will also get there if you speak the language.
I cycled and rode a light motorcycle in Thailand for years and did not have Garmin nor Google Maps, but I did have a compass in my pocket and a copy of a road map. I avoided major roads as much as possible; they are easy but also dangerous because a separate (moped) cycle path is not known in rural Thailand.
Then you come to roads with 3 and 4 numbers and the last roads are sometimes not even paved and often they have no nameplates with the 'terminus' of that road, but only the next village. And only in Thai but I can read that. You too, Willie?
Language knowledge is a great help if you are standing in a hole somewhere, in front of a crossroads of roads and roads, with no directional signs or only in Thai, and your compass says straight ahead but you can only go left or right. Then it's nice if you can ask the way to a tuktuk driver, postman or teacher. Keep in mind that someone who doesn't know the way will still point something out, otherwise it will be a loss of face….
I would follow Thailandganger's tip and mount a handlebar bracket. Then you keep your ears free for traffic noises and you better retain your concentration for what is happening on the road. Really, that is necessary because people do not take each other into account and a cyclist is seen as a difficult pedestrian on wheels.
They must have already told you that you have to take tire repair, pump and extra inner tubes with you, I assume.
Good luck and have a nice trip!
Dear Erik,
Thanks for your comment. Have quite some cycling experience in Thailand. Cycled from Bkk to Phuket a few years ago. Very easy to do, and luckily I can also read a little Thai. Definitely useful.
Hello Willy
Give it a try with RideWithGPS. You can create a free account here.
Here you can easily plot a route on your computer or tablet and navigate it via your phone. I think navigating online is free and offline it costs about €6 per month.
This app is specially made for the bicycle. It uses Google Maps and other formats. So you also have street view at your disposal. That is very good and complete in Thailand.
There are also many routes to be found in this program.
I have now cycled many thousands of kilometers in Thailand to my full satisfaction.
Good luck with cycling.
El Jan
http://www.strava.com free but pay a fee for routes after a trial period
It's not about the routes, it's about the way of navigating.
Navigation is very good with RideWithGPS
Also with speech support
Just try it once, it costs nothing
Willy,
I have no experience with cycling in Thailand with Google Maps with an earpiece, but with the motor scooter.
A smartphone in the blazing Thai sun indeed gets too hot and then switches off. And the battery won't last long to leave the screen on (again because of the blazing Thai sun) at maximum brightness.
I assume you prefer not to take a power bank with you on the bike.
Before leaving with an internet connection, enter the route for the bicycle in Google Maps, put in earpiece(s), press start, put the smartphone in your pocket and go. Works fine for me.
And you don't have to worry about not hearing the other traffic. The app isn't ringing in your ears all the time, just shortly before and when you need to change direction.
Good luck and have fun.
Thanks, I was waiting for this!
Not really an answer to your question, but given my cycling experience over the last few years here in Nonthaburi, this might also be helpful.
I usually cycle short stretches of about 20 – 40 km in the area and prefer small roads and paths along khlongs, more relaxed.
However, I sometimes run into things that show that Google Maps is not entirely correct, which varies from non-existent roads to missing pieces, see here for more details:
https://www.art58koen.net/single-post/off-the-map
Followed and read the link. Thanks for the tips.
Speak to a BeeLine and Klein's slime GPS connected to the phone. There is a motorcycle and a bicycle version. I think it's a fantastic device compared to the old-fashioned models, with the map updates etc.. all no longer necessary. Battery lasts for weeks!
http://Www.Beeline.co
I can't find any info about a GPS via the link...
Google maps works well on the moped in BKK and the surrounding area.
Never encountered major problems.
Mounted on the handlebar with a charger and definitely out of the sun,
Maps also has offline use.
Can you download the environment at home if you don't have coverage.
Which I mainly do when I enter the national parks where there is poor coverage.
Just use Komoot. Purchase the world once for €25 and that's it. Turn-by-turn navigation, altitude profiles,… if you take premium you are even insured, weather forecast during your trip and much more. Komoot is simply the very best and I've tried them all. Thailand has also been crossed several times with Komoot.
You create an account on your phone or via the website. You can easily plan routes on your PC or laptop because they are then automatically on your phone (or your Garmin if you want to use it). You can also make them available offline and there are plenty of highlights that you can include in your tour. If you have any questions just ask. My email is [email protected] and happy to help you.