Buying glasses in Hua Hin

[migrant]

Thank you both!!

[HHTel]

Myself, as well as others on here, thoroughly recommend Dr. Pairat. Top Charoen are in the business of selling specs whereas Dr. Pairat is in the business true diagnosis. I had cataract replacement surgery some years ago now and have never needed glasses to this day. Even Bangkok Hospital sends him patients for laser adjustment because he has the equipment and they don't.
Top of the list in Hua Hin!

Walking south from MV, his surgery is on the right between Soi 88/1 and Soi 88/2.

[migrant]

Myself, as well as others on here, thoroughly recommend Dr. Pairat. Top Charoen are in the business of selling specs whereas Dr. Pairat is in the business true diagnosis. I had cataract replacement surgery some years ago now and have never needed glasses to this day. Even Bangkok Hospital sends him patients for laser adjustment because he has the equipment and they don't.
Top of the list in Hua Hin!

Walking south from MV, his surgery is on the right between Soi 88/1 and Soi 88/2.

Thanks! Yes I had my doubts about Top Charoen as you said.

[handdrummer]

Thanks! Yes I had my doubts about Top Charoen as you said.

I had a pair of glasses made at Top Charoen and they made the wrong prescription. The person in line ahead of me had the same problem. Buyer beware. I ended have mine made at Time Optics, just down the road from the Chinese mall.

[egiljohann]

Myself, as well as others on here, thoroughly recommend Dr. Pairat. Top Charoen are in the business of selling specs whereas Dr. Pairat is in the business true diagnosis. I had cataract replacement surgery some years ago now and have never needed glasses to this day. Even Bangkok Hospital sends him patients for laser adjustment because he has the equipment and they don't.
Top of the list in Hua Hin!

Walking south from MV, his surgery is on the right between Soi 88/1 and Soi 88/2.

Dr. Pairat now do his cataract laser operations at Bangkok Hospital. So maybe they now have the equipment, or said doctor has moved his equipment over to them. I checked my cataract at his office about a week ago and he told me. I'm in for operation soon.

[HHTel]

Mmmm. Bangkok hospital had equipment to perform cataract ops but not laser. The cataract op was more expensive than Dr. Pairat. So I guess he's doing both laser and cataract ops at Bangkok Hospital.

My mother had some laser correction and when we went to his surgery, after looking at her eyes, said "We'll do that now". 5 mins and all done. Won't get that kind of service anymore!

[Scout]

I followed the recommendations and visited Dr. Pairat to obtain a new pair of glasses. I was very pleased with the entire experience. Dr. Pairat and his staff speak excellent English and he took the time to explain everything in detail and in language I could understand. The vision tests he administered were the most comprehensive I’ve had since I left America. He also diagnosed my current progressive glasses, obtained at Top Charoen, and showed me why they don’t feel quite right, the lens were manufactured in such a way that the center of vision missed the center of my eyes, by just a little on one side and clear up onto my eyelid on the other. I suspect this has also happened with all my previous pairs from Top Charoen and why they’ve always told me I needed to wear the new glasses for a few days until my eyes got used to them. I picked up my new glasses last night and from the first minute of using them my eyes feel at rest and my field of vision is VERY comfortable and greatly improved. All of my future business will be with Dr Pairat, thank you all for your recommendations !

[uncle tom]

My specs are on their last legs, but I resent UK prices, so intend to get my eyes tested and a new pair made as soon as I arrive back in January.

I've been recommended a place in Bangkok, but that in itself is a bit of a pain. This Dr Pairat guy sounds promising, but how good is his kit? My specs are varifocal and include an adjustment for a slight astigmatism in one eye.

And what are his prices like? I want a decent metal frame, but am not remotely concerned about 'designer' brands. What is his all-in bill likely to come to, roughly, for testing, lenses and frame?

[Big Boy]

Dr Pairat is a great eye doctor, but his stock of frames is not the best. He does not make his money from selling frames.

His kit and ability is equal to anything I experienced in the UK, and I was a regular at Bristol Eye Hospital who are good.

[Scout]

I have variable (progressive) lens and opted for a slightly more expensive type of lens with automatic darkening for when I’m in the sun. My total price was about 28,000 bt.

[uncle tom]

My total price was about 28,000 bt.

Ouch! - that's in the same ball-park as Specsavers in the UK..

[lomuamart]

Although I don't go for varifocals or any other add ons, I always get my glasses when back in the UK now.
If I get them through Boots or Vision Express, I can normally get 2 pairs for around 150 GBP (promotions). They obviously don't have designer frames and no bells and whistles, as said, but they're cheaper than Thailand and the lenses always seem to last me longer without scratching than any I've bought in Thailand.
A sight test with eye exam including retinal inspection, pressure test and cataract inspection is only 25 GBP and I trust the results which I'm loath to do after visiting the above said specialist. On my one and only visit there, he had me believing that I had cataracts, a lesion on one retina and very high eye pressure (leading to glaucoma). Thought I was going to drop dead or go blind. The advice from the UK on two separate visits to two different opticians was that there was no problem with anything and not to let any doctor anywhere near my eyes for surgery for at least another 10 years.
The UK it is for me now - as long as a visit fits in with things.

[The understudy]

Hi there fellas in Hua Hin

My recommendation never ever buy glasses from Top Charoen Optical. Even though they are conveinantly located in Hua Hin and Cha Am this optical shop chain are nothing but no good Frame Putschers par exellance. Not recommended for serious glasses buyers.


Your’s The understudy

[HHTel]

Although I don't go for varifocals or any other add ons, I always get my glasses when back in the UK now.
If I get them through Boots or Vision Express, I can normally get 2 pairs for around 150 GBP (promotions). They obviously don't have designer frames and no bells and whistles, as said, but they're cheaper than Thailand and the lenses always seem to last me longer without scratching than any I've bought in Thailand.
A sight test with eye exam including retinal inspection, pressure test and cataract inspection is only 25 GBP and I trust the results which I'm loath to do after visiting the above said specialist. On my one and only visit there, he had me believing that I had cataracts, a lesion on one retina and very high eye pressure (leading to glaucoma). Thought I was going to drop dead or go blind. The advice from the UK on two separate visits to two different opticians was that there was no problem with anything and not to let any doctor anywhere near my eyes for surgery for at least another 10 years.
The UK it is for me now - as long as a visit fits in with things.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Your's is the first post I've seen against this guy. I had my cataract surgery done there and it was perfect. That was a few years ago now. I know many people who have used him with nothing but praise. My mother from the UK had laser surgery there and said how much better it was than the service you get in the UK. I know of 3 people from the UK who have used him and would recommend him.

I would still stand up and be counted as him being one of the best eye doctors in the area. I gather Bangkok Hospital are using his services now.

[caller]

I gather Bangkok Hospital are using his services now.

Yes, I will be having a cataract op with him in the not too distant future and he told me the op would take place at Bangkok hospital. I have a history of getting eye ulcers (first one in years a little while ago, which is why I went to see Dr. Pairat) and that and a stigmatism is the cause of my cataract. I first knew about this in the UK, where I had regular 6-monthly check up's on my eye's.

I have to say that the examination and diagnosis was exactly as I have experienced in specialist eye units in the UK, but what phased me was the blown up photos of my eye's - that was scary.

(With no disrespect intended to the poster) but Is no once else agog at the thought of spending 28,000 baht for a single pair of glasses, even with 'reactolite'? I find that cost incomprehensible. 3 years ago, I bought 2 pairs of prescription driving glasses and one each for reading and using a computer, with 3 of the 4 frames, being stupid designer stuff (as chosen by the other half) and they came to about half that price (in Korat).