Hua Hin to Chiang Mai Road Trip.

[Pagey]

We are travelling by car from HH to CM and return, anyone done this trip ?

We are relying on sat nav to direct us there, anyone got any tips, shortcuts ?

Please don't suggest alternatives, we need to drive on this occasion but any useful advice would be appreciated.

[JamesWest]

i use a GPS program called Sygic on my iPad.

The advantage is it does not require a cellphone network to operate.

Internal database. Extremely accurate. Voice commands. Large screen on iPad.

I would pre program your route and study it before you leave as to cut down on confusion while on the road.

Also you can fly over your entire route using Google Earth.

In a car I would just stay on the main highways and drive extremely defensively. That way at least you will have some divided highway.

Don't drive after dark.

Don't take your eyes off the road in front of you or have any distractions in the car like small children. Your task is to drive.

Sorry I have not driven Hua Hin to Chiang Mai but your challenge will be getting past Bangkok.

Good Luck

[Pagey]

Thanks James

Just 2 adults and a brand new car with built in sat nav. Hopefully the sat nav will direct us round Bkk!!

[Gregjam]

Did it last year. Left before daylight and timed it so that it was daylight when I turned onto route 321 towards Suphan Buri. Had to add a route point as the sat nav wanted to take me through Bangkok.
Joined route 1 at Chainat and followed it to Lampang then route 11 across to Chiang Mai.
Arrived early evening. A long journey but with plenty of breaks was okay. Did it in a Vios with the wife who cannot read a map and was not a lot of help with reading road signs as doing anything other than sleep or look beautiful in the car makes her travel sick.
I also have a map and checked the route during stops as the satnav can lead you astray.
Would not want to do it all in darkness, only the familiar roads. Coming back we left at sunrise and got back an hour or so into the evening darkness. With a faster car and more speed tolerant passenger the trip can be done easily in less than 12 hours.

[hhinner]

We did it last year. Stopped overnight in Tak and stayed at Viang Tak Riverside Hotel. Beautiful view from the room overlooking the river.

[Pagey]

Did it last year. Left before daylight and timed it so that it was daylight when I turned onto route 321 towards Suphan Buri. Had to add a route point as the sat nav wanted to take me through Bangkok.
.

OK Thanks I will pass this info on to the car/sat nav owner as it means nothing to me !

[Gregjam]

To try and keep it simple. When you plan a route in a sat nav you usually tell it to pick from a number of choices. Common ones are shortest or fastest but also include the option to keep off toll roads. There are numerous other choices. You give it a start and finish point and it calculates a route. Even the best ones make mistakes hence lorries ending up stuck in lanes in the UK. Selecting a start point in Hua Hin and destination in Chiang Mai will usually involve passing through Bangkok. On the route I used I seem to remember wanting the fastest route which automatically passed through Bangkok. To avoid this you can add a waypoint (location) which forces it to select a route passing this place.
This type of route planning is used by parcel delivery companies to plan their vans rounds using the customers addresses as waypoints. It also helps them to predict what time your parcel will arrive (subject to traffic, crashes, driver getting stopped for speeding etc).
In this instance, by telling it you want to go via Suphan Buri (in fact a point at the roadside before the town was selected) it should select the correct road. Ultimately it pays to review the route the gadget has planned just to make sure it has not made a real hash of it.

[Pagey]

OK Thanks Greg. The cars not a week old yet so I don't know if he has any previous experience with sat nav before.

[Gregjam]

A good idea would be to use it for a local trip which you are familiar with and see which way it takes you and if it will get you there without the risk of getting lost. Ultimately it is advisable to have a map handy just in case.
Worth mentioning, if you have not used one before, is not to be distracted by the machine. Driving here is challenging enough and sat navy's can be as bad as a mobile phone. Have a safe trip and let us know how you get on.