Eye Glasses

[Raven]

Is Bangkok a good place to buy prescription eye glasses? If so, where is a good place in the Sukumvit / Siam Square areas?

How much for a pair with progressive lenses?

Thanx for your help.

Raven

[gummigut]

I found Thailand a decent place to buy eyewear. Need to do some comparison shopping. I don't remember the exact prices. I remember getting quoted prices that were close to US prices for high-indexed (1.62 I believe) lenses in Siam center. Daily wear contacts was 2000 baht for 24 or 30.

I walked around to some of the small shops in Siam Square. While they didn't have that nice a selection of frames, comparable high-index lens prices were very cheap and I bought the same Daily Wear contacts for 800 or 1200 baht (I don't remember). This included the exam, although they don't do the glaucoma test and stuff.

Hong Kong is a very good place to get eyewear as well, and pricing is much more standard.

<<burp>>

[Old Hippie]

There is/was a shop on Soi 3 within the first block or so, on the right after you cross Sukhumvit. A friend just got back, he scored a pair of progressives in Patong for around $65usd. I think there are several shops in Siam square area, and MBK, but I think the prices might be higher.

Checking my copy of the BKK yellow pages, I see Opthamologists Ratanin clinic at 80 Soi Asoke Sukhumvit 260-5384-5 if you need an exam. Also Vision Center Rajthevi at 87/10 Phyathai 251-0664 or VC shop at 272 silom 235-2401 For an Optometrist, Siva Optical 1554 Sukhumvit 331-0641. I am not sure about any of these places, as I no longer wear glasses (lasik).

If you have time, ask the front desk at your hotel, or get the yellow pages. A trick a friend of mine pulls is he goes to a really top end hotel, like Amari, JW Marriot etc... and asks the concierge where to go, they usually have a list of such places!

Good luck! I hope the info helps!

[Raven]

The info was great to have. Thanx!

I also had the LASIK, but I am struggling with the neeed to wear reading glasses of different strengths (computer, books, meetings) and I am in a job where I read nearly all day long. That, coupled with a lack of sharpness of vision has me thinking about getting a pair of light weight progressive reading glasses with just a small prescription to help the long distance clarity.

Struck me that Bangkok might be a good place to get a nice looking pair cheap.

When you said Patong, did you mean Phuket? Hadn't thought of getting them there.

[Guest]

Based on personal experience, I cannot recommend Top Charoen Optical. I purchased a pair of eyeglasses from their outlet at Sukhumvit Soi 3 and have had a number of problems.

 

1) Had to bargain on the price. Some may not object to this, but in my opinion corrective eyewear is a medical item and off-limits to haggling. I would have walked, but I was very pressed for time and blind as a bat.

 

2) I ordered my glasses with an anti-reflective coating. Unfortunately, they used two different types of lens-blanks apparently and one lens has a slight blue tinge while the other is slighly green. This didn't become apparent to me until a few days later and is a purely cosmetic problem, but more than a little odd and again, IMO, unprofessional on their part.

 

3) The anti-reflective coating on one lens began to erode -- without any scratches or exposure to chemicals -- after just a week or so and now forms an unusual quasi-fractal pattern covering one fifth of one lens.

 

4) The "free" clip-on sunglasses were poorly constructed and broke early on.

 

5) Despite having been promised that my 1-year warranty was good at any outlet inthe Kingdom, I have twice been unable to get other shops to remedy the problem with the one lens. Once I was told "cannot do, only at store you buy them". The other time I was told that the new lens couldn't be given without a either a copy of the prescription, which I was told at the Soi 3 shop I couldn't have, or a new eye exam which would not be free.

 

6) The eye exam at the Soi 3 branch was not nearly as comprehensive as even the most cursory I'd received at an American optician. While the prescription was calculated correctly, there was no assay of eye health or puff-test for glaucoma.

 

7) The brevity of the eye exam was in sharp contrast to the amount of time the staff seemed willing to spend attempting to steer my to the more exensive frames. I resent this sort of up-seling and was also put off by their attempt to sell me extras like lens tissue after I declined their first offer.

 

8) Final fitting of the glasses was also very unprofessional. Thir original approach was "Here they are. Bye-bye." I insisted that they be fitted and adjusted correctly [each lens centered over and equidistant from each pupil, and comfortable at the nose and ears] and their attitude grew worse on each attempt. After the third try I felt they were on the verge of open hostility, but the glasses were close enough so I wore them back to my hotel and finished the job myself.

 

Again, I cannot recommend Top Charoen Optical and will take my eyewear baht elsewhere in the future.

[Sukhumvit]

If you're in a country with a Costco then go there to their instore optician.

Last 5 years I've needed specs for driving and distance (like watching telly).

Went to get a pair of Lacoste in Pattaya a couple of years ago. They came with "free" prescription sunglasses. Was wearing a pair of Costco Armani frames with Zeiss lenses. The biff in the shop in Ptty assured me that the crap he was selling me were much better.

There were about 5 or 6 members of staff in the opticians milling around engaged in all sorts of Thai tomfoolery such as blowing up balloons and kicking each other rather than making pigging glasses. It was the usual story of come back at 6pm meaning 8pm meaning tomorrow etc.

I had to take the first pair back as the glass was chipped. The replacements were little better with poorly fitting lenses. The shades have lenses like milk bottle bottoms. A few months back in blighty and the lens fell out of the glasses. Absolute bonk. Not that cheap either. Plus ditto about the rather rapid eye test. All in all my optician experiences in Los have been less than satisfactory.

[Guest]

Yesterday, bought a replacement pair. I got a 30% discount and it was only 3,000 baht( $75) Same glases cost me over $900 in Europe!!! They are special lenses.

Bought them on the ground floor of the Fortune Town Mall.

http://www.fortunehotel.com/map.htm

[Roger]

quote:

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Originally posted by Old hippie:

Checking my copy of the BKK yellow pages, I see Opthamologists Ratanin clinic at 80 Soi Asoke Sukhumvit 260-5384-5 if you need an exam.

---

I can highly recommend this place, a few years ago I had an accident in the office at work and need to have an emergency eye operation. I just told my staff to take me to the best place. The kings optician come from this clinic, which to me is as good a recommendation as you can get. They also sell glasses and do all the eye tests etc.

Not the cheapest place in town, but I would rather not save when it comes to my eyes. They are alot cheaper than the UK though!

Think the operation cost me about 7500 Baht.

Cheers

Roger

[iuytrede]

What does OP mean by "a good place"?

It is not expensive here, and the quality is ok for the price you pay (you can go to the chain stores, a good one is "Eyevision" or something like that in the MBK ground floor and in Emporium).

But the quality is by far not the same that you can get (if you are lucky) in countries known for precision optical instruments.

Thais prefer being blind and beautiful to wearing ugly glasses. Their vision is usually good enough for TV and comic books - who wants to see the pimples on the boyfriend's face anyway?