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I'm trying to find out some decent, up-to-date information on opticians.
My specs have pretty much run their course and the coating has worn off to the point where it get extremely dangerous for me to cross the road at night (sparkly headlights, no good idea of speed and distance) and golf isn't getting better (hit and hope).
I'd love to be "serenaded" by the dolly birds in short, tight uniforms but I'm aware that they may not be the best eye doctors in the world.
Can anyone suggest a decent place? Is Dr Pairat (sic) good? Does anyone have a contact number for him to make an appointment?
Thanks in advance.
BTW - no jokes allowed as to how my eyesight is getting worse through looking at the pretty girls
I've had the same problem recently. I really needed new lenses but didn't want to buy a new frame.
I've been using the Top Charoen chain ever since I came to Thailand more than 11 years ago.
So I got the gf to go and get a quote for me.
One shop didn't want to know, told her the frame was bad and that I'd have to get a new one.
She went to 2 Top Charoen places - one in Hua Hin near the old shopping mall and one in Paknampran.
HH quoted 3100 for the lenses (having seen the old ones first). In Paknampran they wanted 5500.
So I when to HH with the gf to order them - after they saw me the price suddenly shot up to 6200.
She'd also been to a place in soi 78 near Petchkasem Road recommended by bapak and they quoted 3500, so I went there with her and the price remained at 3500, including re-testing my eyes. They called me a few days later to say the glasses were ready and I picked them - good efficient service and no rip-off.
I went to the Top Charon place opposite 7/11 on Sasong Road recently and got a pair of glasses with reactolight lenses and frames for 7500 Baht. Eye test to receiving glasses was 2 days which I thought was good.
Personally I'd prefer a proper optician than a shiny frame factory full of cuties (though the latter is more entertaining).
Try Choke Chai Optical on soi 74 opposite the Subhamitra hotel, they were the only place in town that could fix my frames, the angels all wanted to sell me new ones!
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
barrys wrote:I've had the same problem recently. I really needed new lenses but didn't want to buy a new frame.
I've been using the Top Charoen chain ever since I came to Thailand more than 11 years ago.
So I got the gf to go and get a quote for me.
One shop didn't want to know, told her the frame was bad and that I'd have to get a new one.
She went to 2 Top Charoen places - one in Hua Hin near the old shopping mall and one in Paknampran.
HH quoted 3100 for the lenses (having seen the old ones first). In Paknampran they wanted 5500.
So I when to HH with the gf to order them - after they saw me the price suddenly shot up to 6200.
She'd also been to a place in soi 78 near Petchkasem Road recommended by bapak and they quoted 3500, so I went there with her and the price remained at 3500, including re-testing my eyes. They called me a few days later to say the glasses were ready and I picked them - good efficient service and no rip-off.
Name is Chokechai Optical
36 Amnuaysin Rd., Soi 74, not Soi 78 as above posting..
(Opp. Subbamitra Hotel)
I got my last two pairs of reading glasses from the Top Charoen near to the Jed Pee Nong hotel in the centre of town and have been happy with the price and service. My eyes are of different strengths so it takes a bit of work with the staff but you just have to be patient and keep getting the optician to change lenses around when you're being tested until you can see exactly what you want to see and to be honest, I could do it quicker myself if they would let me!
STEVE G wrote:I got my last two pairs of reading glasses from the Top Charoen near to the Jed Pee Nong hotel in the centre of town and have been happy with the price and service. My eyes are of different strengths so it takes a bit of work with the staff but you just have to be patient and keep getting the optician to change lenses around when you're being tested until you can see exactly what you want to see and to be honest, I could do it quicker myself if they would let me!
Not much of an advert for Top Charoen, Steve!
As far as the price is concerned, have you anything else to compare it with?
I used to use them without any major problems until about 4-5 years ago I started getting double vision, went to see that Mr P chap near Market Village and found I had a very slight (undiagnosed) squint.
I need to get my eyes checked again for some mid-range specs for computer work. I'll be using Mr Pairat(?) or I might try that place in soi 74.
As far as the price is concerned, have you anything else to compare it with?
I think I paid 2,500 bt for one pair and 3,000 bt for the other. I don't pay more as I need them for work and fixing airplanes, they get a pretty hard life and it's only a matter of time before they get smashed. I tried a quite few other places and they always just tried to sell me the most expensive glasses they had, usually around the 7,000 bt mark. Top Charoen was the only place that listened when I tried to explain why I didn't need their most expensive pair.
Very professional. I went armed with a specification produced by Rutnin eye hospital in BK but did not show it to them. A quick thorough test of my eyes and they came up with the same specification.
New reading glasses produced in less than 24 hours.
Nice 'eye candy' but very professional and no hard sell of expensive frames. You take your old frames in or choose what you want from their massive selection and they focus on the lenses in terms of plastic, glass and whether tinted or not
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
I diverse, Spectacle prices in Thailand do seem to be expensive,
in the UK you can get a decent pair via an internet mail order service for equivalent of 1500 bht.
I would not be surprised ( if you paid for international signed for delivery ) if the company I use would
probably mail them to you.
Doctor Pairat is excellent, imho, very professional and, in addition to measuring your eyesight, looks at the retina to see if there are any other potential problems brewing. Last time I went he charged 500 THB for assessment and told me there was nothing wrong with my current prescription, see you in 1 year.
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and then again I just sits" Punch 24th Oct 1906
dtaai-maai wrote:I need to get my eyes checked again for some mid-range specs for computer work.
First time I tried to buy glasses for computer work I made the mistake of telling the eye doc I wanted reading glasses. He gave me a book and said hold where you usually read. Never had anyone in the US measure me that way. Told him I don't use reading glasses for reading, I use them for the computer. Held out my arm parallel to the floor, said add 6" and that's where my screen is. He would have none of it, saying reading glasses are for reading and computer glasses are for computers. After a few respectful comments I saw he wasn't going to budge. I decided not to to tell him what he could to with his attitude. Didn't want to burn any bridges. Took the prescription and got another one at another shop, this time for the correct usage distance.
dtaai-maai wrote:I need to get my eyes checked again for some mid-range specs for computer work.
First time I tried to buy glasses for computer work I made the mistake of telling the eye doc I wanted reading glasses. He gave me a book and said hold where you usually read. Never had anyone in the US measure me that way. Told him I don't use reading glasses for reading, I use them for the computer. Held out my arm parallel to the floor, said add 6" and that's where my screen is. He would have none of it, saying reading glasses are for reading and computer glasses are for computers. After a few respectful comments I saw he wasn't going to budge. I decided not to to tell him what he could to with his attitude. Didn't want to burn any bridges. Took the prescription and got another one at another shop, this time for the correct usage distance.
That's where Time Optic were good. They differentiate between glasses for reading and glasses for computer work
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
richard wrote:
That's where Time Optic were good. They differentiate between glasses for reading and glasses for computer work
I see I wasn't clear. The doc in question knew the difference between the two. He wouldn't write a prescription for reading glasses to be used at a distance he considered too far for reading. Those are the only 'computer glasses' I've ever used.
