Earlier this year, I spent a few weeks driving around Thailand. I took a wide angle version Mobius with me, and it was placed in the windshield of my rental car before I left the airport.
Mobius 1080P HD Action Camera Wide-Angle
from: Spy Tec
I did have a netbook with me, and downloaded the video files at least daily. The 32mb memory card I had in the Mobius yielded about 6 hours of video, before overwriting the oldest file. (At the settings I selected)
(I have hours and hours of video from this trip!)
I purchased the wide angle lens version of the Mobius just prior to the trip, but I've been using the standard lens Mobius for over a year in my tractor trailer.. My thoughts now are I prefer the normal angle version a little more for 'dashcam' use. The wide angle lens version seems to pick up vehicle 'A Pillars', and extraneous stuff, maybe a bit more than I want to.
I packed a small suction cup mount, a usb cable for power/download, and a 12v cigarrette lighter powered USB hub.
Driving in Thailand for the first time? INSANE.
What can I say? I have never driven on 'that' side of the road before, coupled with driving from the 'wrong' (right) side of the vehicle. To compound things, I was driving a manual transmission pickup truck, with the shifter on my left.
The pickup itself, a Toyota Vigo Champ 'Extra' cab, was wonderful, and priced well, via Budget Car rental in BKK. I chose it over a 'clown' car which was roughly the same price. The pickup came with a sturdy and fashionable locking cap. There was only a miniscule, barely padded bench for a back seat, but there was only two of us, and we have plenty of room up front.
The Vigo, (Same as a Tacoma in the US) had a diesel engine, and did well on fuel, while offering decent performance.
I honestly didn't keep track of the MPG, but my guess is mid to high 20's. There are no self serve gas stations in Thailand, or at least I didn't see any. We generally stopped at a large 7/11 travel plaza, handed the attendant a 1000 baht note, and that filled the tank up, and we had change left for a snack.
Navigating Thailand was 'interesting'. I had a Thai friend with me, who had not driven much in the big cities. I bought a GPS map for my Garmin, which turned out to be worthless. My suggestion is rent the GPS from the car rental place.
Just prior to my trip, I purchased a multiple USB outlet that plugged into a 12v cigarette lighter outlet. It worked well for this trip, charging cell phones, tablets, and powering the Mobius. The 12v outlet did lose power when the key was off and the truck parked. I was hoping for it to stay powered, keeping the cam on while the truck was parked, offering us some protection while parked in tourist areas.
We were at the Royal Elephant Kraal, near Ayutthaya, after normal tourist hours.
(I didn't realize it.)
The elephants were being herded about, some coming home from town from 'work'.
I parked the truck, we walked around a bit, then I noticed elephants milling about the pickup. I was nervous, the pickup was silver, maybe looking gray to a lovesick elephant, and they were CLOSE. At the same time I was thinking, 'wow, this will be cool video on the MOBIUS!'.
Well, I didn't realize the mobius was not powered up, since the 12v socket I plugged it into was not powered when the key is off.
Next time I will take a large battery pack to power the Mobius, and maybe even a second Mobius to place in the rear of the vehicle. The Mobius is so inconspicuous. It's easy to tuck in near the rear view mirror.
The Mobius is good 'insurance' against some traffic accident scams that sometimes target tourists, and also helps to document your trip.
I'd heard of police corruption in Thailand, didn't have a problem, although we often passed through Police and Military checkpoints in the provinces.
I thoroughly enjoyed my trip, more so after the first few days of getting used to driving there. I may have left some unusual stains on the driver seat of the pickup during the first day driving there..
We traveled from BKK, toward Mae Hong Song, Chiang Mai, and later Issaan, and eventually back to BKK. I think I drove 3000 km in ten days.
Do I suggest you rent a car when if you go to Thailand? Not if you are not used to driving on 'that' side of the road!
Will I rent a car on my next trip? Yes. Shop wisely online, I rented my pickup via USAA, and Budget. I highly recommend the Budget agency at the BKK airport.
They were very helpful, the car was ready and clean, and at the curb. Dealing with Budget was the easiest part of this long trip. Thanks, I'll use you next time!
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| On the temple grounds at Tham Erawan, Nong Bua Lamphu province |
Once you escape BKK, slow down, enjoy the scenery, take your time. I feel comfortable driving in Thailand now. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally stray to the wrong side of the road or turn the wipers on when I'm trying to use a turn signal.
Thai drivers will tailgate, and pass where it is totally stupid. (another reason for a dashcam) The more expensive the car, the more aggressive they seem to be.
Then, you have the large, Toyota Vans that run inter-city, usually silver colored, hauling maybe 15 passengers. They usually drove like maniacs.
Here's tour bus we saw at a Tourist attraction in Loei province.
My Thai friend told me 'don't tell people you trucker in USA. ' Here trucker is low life person, do drug.'.
Well, not so different than in the USA? I was still curious about the trucks in Thailand.
Except in the rural provinces, the big trucks usually weren't going very fast, and I saw little in the way of what we'd think of as 'truck stops'.
You didn't see as many overly aggressive big trucks in Thailand as I see in the USA.
Many big trucks were LPG powered.
The closest thing to a truck stop I saw were wide spaces in the road where there was some roadside vendors, like a flea market, and some trucks parked on the shoulder.
The truckers could buy hot food, and apparently sometimes 'special services' at some, (Massages and beyond).
As far as parking to sleep, I saw many trucks with small sleepers just parked on the shoulder of the road.
Oh, stickers or mudflaps bearing the image of Al Pacino in 'Serpico' are popular on big trucks in Thailand. They see him as an anti-police corruption symbol.
It was kind of strange seeing 'Serpico' staring at you from mudflaps on the back of trucks.
Here is video from the wide angle lens mobius, on the road to Pai, Thailand. Other than around BKK or other big cities, this was some of the worst driving I saw in Thailand.
If you want to view it in HD, please view it at Youtube. (I did upload in 1080p HD)
Except in the rural provinces, the big trucks usually weren't going very fast, and I saw little in the way of what we'd think of as 'truck stops'.
You didn't see as many overly aggressive big trucks in Thailand as I see in the USA.
Many big trucks were LPG powered.
The closest thing to a truck stop I saw were wide spaces in the road where there was some roadside vendors, like a flea market, and some trucks parked on the shoulder.
The truckers could buy hot food, and apparently sometimes 'special services' at some, (Massages and beyond).
As far as parking to sleep, I saw many trucks with small sleepers just parked on the shoulder of the road.
Oh, stickers or mudflaps bearing the image of Al Pacino in 'Serpico' are popular on big trucks in Thailand. They see him as an anti-police corruption symbol.
It was kind of strange seeing 'Serpico' staring at you from mudflaps on the back of trucks.
Here is video from the wide angle lens mobius, on the road to Pai, Thailand. Other than around BKK or other big cities, this was some of the worst driving I saw in Thailand.
If you want to view it in HD, please view it at Youtube. (I did upload in 1080p HD)
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