Best place to buy vitamins and minerals in Chiang Mai

[watgate]

I am looking to buy some quality vitamin and mineral supplements and was wondering if anyone knows the best place to buy them in the Chiang Mai area.

[clokwise]

www.iherb.com

 

While it's not in Chiang Mai, they ship here for $4 or even free, takes 1 to 2 weeks, and no customs duty or taxes - just don't order too much, keep within the guidelines posted on their site, when I need to order a lot I will split into several orders. You'll find they have FAR BETTER selection and prices than anywhere in Thailand, if not anywhere. They're extremely popular, I'm sure you'll find many members here use them.

[beau thai]

I buy whey protein at Dara Pharmacy opposite Dara Acadamy in  Kaeonnawarat Road. They also have supplements, and knowledgeable english speaking staff. Worth a look.

[jij]

i'm very keen on www.iherb.com also, must have ordered at least 20 times. keep your order weight below 4lbs is best and note that there might be a customs duty. i just got hit with a 30% duty, but for 20 orders and showing up on the radar only one time is not bad. the selection and prices are great and my nutritionist highly recommends them for quality.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by jij

[balo]

Yes iHerb.com is the way to go , unless you are looking for Thai herbal capsules. Many pharmacies and health stores in CM sell herbals, like Ginseng. Gingko Biloba etc. My favorite Thai brand is Thanyaporn. http://www.thanyaporn.com/products_e.asp . The cheapest prices you will get at the old mall, Central Plaza near the airport. Downstairs near Tops, they sell Thanyaporn capsules very cheap. Like 100 to 150 baht for a box of 100 capsules.

But as already suggested iHerb.com is the way to go for vitamins/minerals.

[chingmai331]

Generally no known benefits to common vitamins/minerals. Eat common foods and mostly plants.  Read more here:

 

http://fox8.com/2018/05/30/study-finds-most-popular-vitamin-mineral-supplements-provide-no-health-benefit/

 

Don't like FOX, then google towards a different source but the results will be the same: a huge waste of money to buy supplemental vits/mins.

 

But please do not think i care what you do or how you spend your money.  I do not.

[connda]

iHerb is the place to order.  If you can find supplements here they are generally over-priced and you have a very limited selection.  Recently iHerb has been shipping to Thailand for free. And I believe the magic number to keep under the customs radar is to make sure your order is under $46 USD.  I've written about it before.  Do a search for 'iHerb' in the TV forums.  Good luck.

[KrishnaCameb4Buddha]

How to buy Vitamins in Thailand for a good price. (use the internet---www.iherb.com--NOT Thai  pharmacies

 

Like so many things in Thailand, vitamins are expensive here (except for thai brand Vitamin C, that's okay.)

 

To take one important example (since people worldwide are deficient in it and everyone should supplement since no vitamin D is made on the skin when there is air pollution) you can buy Vitamin D3 at a very, very low price from iherb.com.  It will take about 10 days to get to Thailand.  If you order more than $40 then there is no shipping charge (free shipping?!  Yes!).  But note: your order must be less than $46 to avoid paying customs/duties.  I have ordered many times from them and my box always arrives and I have never paid customs/duties on the orders because I keep them BELOW $46.  They sell many other things: all vitamins,; oils; herbs; supplements; organic coffee from USA (same price as Thai so-called ‘organic’ but from USA it will be organic for sure, as many things in Thailand are advertised as ‘100% cotton’, or ‘organic’, or ‘Nike’ but it is highly doubtful most things are as advertised here).

 

Thailand does not sell Vitamin D3 for a low price.  It is very, very expensive in Thailand.

 

Example: the Pharmacy in Kad Suan Kaew in Chiang

Mai sells 1000 IU Vitamin D3 in a bottle.  It costs about 8 baht for EACH capsule of 1000 IU .

 

Iherb.com sells NOW brand (a good brand name in USA), a bottle of Vitamin D3, 5000 IU, 240 caps, for 380 baht. 380/240 is 1.6 baht for FIVE thousand IU, which is 0.32 baht per ONE thousand IU.

 

Compare Thai pharmacy Kad Suan Kaew 8 baht per 1000 IU with iherb 0.32 baht per 1000 IU.  With iherb, you get 24 (!) of 1000 IU for 8 baht, but with pharmacy in Kad Suan Kaew you only get ONE capsule of 1000 IU for 8 baht.

 

Compare:

Iherb: 24 x 1000 IU for 8 baht!

 

or

 

Thai pharmacy ONE capsule of 1000 IU for 8 baht.

Edited June 5, 2018 by KrishnaCameb4Buddha

[chingmai331]

"since no vitamin D is made on the skin when there is air pollution) "

 

Well pal, you will need to provide some good scientific data to support this 'fake news', esp here in SE Asia where the sunlight is very intense.  Will admit a decrease in VD due to air pollution, but 'none' is nonsense.  You are little more than a shill peddling products.

[jko]

iherb every time for me

Faultless, reliable, very efficient, easy to order, highly recommended.

[lordblackader]

I normally wouldn't recommend the site for anything else but I buy all my Blackmores vitamins via Lazada and save in bulk buys - sometimes 200-300 baht per bottle cheaper than your average pharmacy. 

[KrishnaCameb4Buddha]

On 6/5/2018 at 8:31 PM, chingmai331 said:

"since no vitamin D is made on the skin when there is air pollution) "

 

Well pal, you will need to provide some good scientific data to support this 'fake news', esp here in SE Asia where the sunlight is very intense.  Will admit a decrease in VD due to air pollution, but 'none' is nonsense.  You are little more than a shill peddling products.

“Vitamin D for Health: A Global perspective” by Arash Hossein-nezhad, MD, phD, and Michaer F. Horick, phD, MD appearing in Mayo Clinic Proceedings July 2013.  (This is a 33 page Review-of-Literature article, based on 269 scientific studies which 269 citations are at the end of the article.  You can find this on the net for free.

 

“Cutaneous vitamin D production is influenced by skin pigmentation, sunscreen use, time of day, season, latitude, altitude, and air pollution.

 

“An increase in the zenith angle of the sun during winter and early morning and late afternoon results in a longer path for the solar UV-B photons to travel through the ozone layer, which efficiently absorbs them. This is the explanation for why above and below approximately 33 latitude little if any vitamin D is made in the skin during winter.

 

“This is also the explanation for why whether being at the equator and in the far northern and southern regions of the world in summer, where the sun shines almost 24 hours a day vitamin D synthesis occurs only between approximately 10 AM and 3 PM.  Similarly, in urban areas, such as Los Angeles, California, and Mexico City, Mexico, where nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels are high, few vitamin D producing UV-B photons reach the people living in these cities. (Note: ozone and nitrogen dioxide aren’t only found over cities, especially in places like Thailand where much of the country is covered in pollution).

 

“Similarly, because glass absorbs all UV-B radiation, no vitamin D is produced in the skin when the skin is exposed to sunlight that passes through glass.”