Top Thai iPhone Apps

An Indian once told me with the cutest of accents: “Women. Who can live with them. Who can live without them.”

Same applies to the iPhone. Who doesn’t have one yet. And if you don’t have one yet, how can you get along without.

The phone’s complex simplicity is astonishing, not to mention the huge resource of applications. Most are trash. There are some jewels out there, some may even facilitate your life in Bangkok. Here are my picks:

- WhatzUP Thai ($0.99): Never ever again bored in Bangkok. Festivals, shows, concerts, fairs, seminars, shopping, art and more, constantly updated.

- BKK Transit (free): Bangkok’s public transport bible. Skytrain, subway, Chao Phraya boats and more.

- iTraffic (free): Helps you beat traffic, only available in Thai though. Still, even if Thai-illiterate, those live CCTV shots are worth a download and basic English descriptions are provided.

- Major Movie (free): Getting the correct movie program and showtimes can be a daunting task in Thailand. No more.

- Bangkok Post News (free): Yes, now even the Post has a dedicated iPhone app. Worth a download.

- Nation News (free): Handy news app by The Nation with Top Stories, Breaking News, Business and Politics sections. There’s also the newer The Nation Exclusive app. Free to download, but then subscription only.

- Lonely Planet Bangkok Guide ($15.99): Bangkok inside out in your pocket. Best part of it being iPhone apps get updated now and then …

- iPoodThai ($2.99): English-Thai language survival app for beginners and slightly advanced speakers. Or try the free World Nomads Thai offering the bare basics such as the glorious phrases “Don’t shoot!” or “Those drugs aren’t mine!” in Thai …

- Thai Stock Watch (free): The Thai stock market in your hand. Password “fxpass” – app seems to have some issues though lately. Or not elaborate enough for you? There’s always Settrade Streaming, but you need a local broker account.

- Thai Cuties Lite (free): Debatable. Well there’s always the more promising, not free Pro version ($0.99) … Or you’re into Ladyboys ($0.99)?

- App Popular (free): Last but not least an über-app! App Popular lets you browse free and paid apps by country. Be alerted when Thai apps you want go on sale, create wishlists and more.

Forgot something? Other must-have apps? There are quite some English-Thai language apps available. Not sure which one to recommend for what level. Your take?

Other essential apps, not Thai related: Skype, Google Mobile App and Echofon for Twitter (the ad-free Pro version is $4.99). And Adobe’s Photoshop.com Mobile has just come out. A must.

Thanks to Gnarly Kitty/CNNGo, travelfish, MartinPerry & John for some app winks.


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11 Responses to “Top Thai iPhone Apps”

  1. Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by BangkokDan: (BLOG) Top Thai iPhone Apps http://bit.ly/7o3nEv...

  2. These are some great local apps! Thai users may also find the iPhone app – App Popular – to also be helpful. You can easily browse all 77 App Stores, be alerted when apps you want go on sale, create wishlists and more. We are adding two new app discovery features to version 1.1 due December 2009.

    (BD: Thanks John, added to the list.)

  3. Catherine says:

    Excellent! WhatzUP Thai is a new one on me.

  4. Siam.Rick says:

    That BKK Transit app is pretty decent. Thanks BD. Among three others I checked out, Major Movies and Thai Cuties got lukewarm reviews. It was Catherine’s blog that alerted me to the IPoodThai app. I tried it and it’s quite useful actually.

  5. ChuckWow says:

    “Who doesn’t have one yet?”

    I don’t – and see no reason to ever get one.

    “And if you don’t have one yet, how can you get along without?”

    Jesus, it’s just a phone! If they are so miraculous how did you ever manage to get out of bed before they were invented?

  6. May I recommend another Thai iPhone app? This one’s for BKK newbies or tourists called “Bangkok Essential” co-authored by Kiki Anderson and yours truly.

    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id359791801?mt=8

  7. nocturn says:

    Yep, i like that transit app.

  8. LiteObjects says:

    New “Thailand News” app for iPhone, iPad and iPod released by LiteObjects:

    http://bit.ly/thain

    http://yfrog.com/mohalp

  9. BangkokDan says:

    And here’s an interesting newcomer:

    “Live TV” makes it possible to watch Thai live channels on the iPhone/iPad. The app will be released Thursday, February 03rd. The app will be freely available from Thursday until Saturday. After this period the app will cost $0,99.

    The following channels are available:

    Thai Asean News, ASTV News 1, TV3, Thai TV 7, DMC, Nation Channel, TV Muslim, Live TV 1 Variety, Khmer TV, Esan Discovery, Kimeng, MVTV 5 MV5, MVTV Variety, MVTV 7 Star, MVTV 8 My, MVTV News, Taokae, Euronews International, Al Jazeera (Arabic), Al Jazeera (English), Al Jazeera Sport, France24, Press TV.

    http://itunes.apple.com/th/app/id415488644

    Screenshots:

    http://bit.ly/foj5WI
    http://bit.ly/hAK1MI
    http://bit.ly/fOm3VK
    http://bit.ly/hyK41u

    BangkokDan

  10. Jason says:

    Bangkok Restaurant Finder is also quite good for foodies.

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