Is GPS a useful tool to navigate the roads on Phuket

Dear friends, I would be visiting Phuket around middle of Nov. I planned to rent a car and drive around the island. I had been to Phuket before and had found the most easy place to get lost is in town.Is a GPS useful to navigate the roads in Phuket town.

Also which brand of GPS has the best function. Your advise and assistance wil be greatly appreciated.

Tomjudy

Is GPS a useful tool to navigate the roads on Phuket

Not sure any real need its not like your driving in Bangkok, but Budget do provide GPS with rental cars need t request in advance see cost below

Can now request for all depots

THB100/ day for 1~4 day hire.

THB500/rental for 5~9 days hire

THB1,000/rental for 10~30 days hire

Is GPS a useful tool to navigate the roads on Phuket

Hi, I use a Garmin.

Well,it is still a machine,and at times,when satellite signal is poor,still have to stop and ask for directions;so I still suggest having a road map(with Thai language on it).

In town, best is to use buildings as landmark;I have reached a stage of not knowing the street names anymore,but know how to get around.

Best,also when approaching Thalang and Chalong circle(Hai Yak),is to know which turn to take already,than depending on the GPS.

Best,if you could have one,or at the rental company, save all the POIs in my locations,so save entering data.

Happy and safe driving,and advise that you do obtain an international driving permit.Be careful of weaving motorists and when approaching places with a lot of ';soi';(lanes)

I don%26#39;t think it would nmatter which brand, use one that has Thailand maps available. I think Navman does, as I am sure some others do.

I agree with the OP. Phuket Town can be very confusing, and any navigational tools there can be very welcome. problem is going to be though there are many one way streets there, which is part of the confusion.

So I would say: give it a go and let us know here afterwards, I for one am curious to find out whether it did help.

I have not often seen them used in Phuket, so i would also be interested to hear if they are useful at all.

Phuket Town is very hard to navigate at night, but it is really quite small.

If you cant use a GPS then I suggest you look at basic geography of the island. Most of the signs say to Patong, Chalong, or the Airport, and if you dont know roughly where they are on the island you will have a big problem getting around.

Thanks alot for all your advises. I shall give you a report after I tried it next month.

Tomjudy

I%26#39;d be interested to know where I can buy or download maps for Southern Thailand for a Garmin GPS. The Garmin shop has quoted £130 for a full SE Asia map which includes Southern Thailand but probably not at the detailed level I want. Also that is nearly twice the cost of the basic GPS device!