Reading Glasses - Non-prescription in Chiang Mai

[FolkGuitar]

I'd like to buy a couple of cheap pairs of Reading Glasses - Non-prescription.

Where in Chiang Mai, OTHER THAN OPTICAL STORES can these be found? I don't need prescription lenses. I want over-the-counter ones, the sort that would be sold in Walmart or Drug stores in the US.

I'm going to try PharmaChoice and Daiso tomorrow, but other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

[CNXexpat]

Boots and other drugstores, some pharmacies. Daiso perhaps, but they sell very cheap stuff and I wouldn´t buy there because with low quality glasses you can ruin your eyes. 

 

[eyecatcher]

Tesco, big c, tops, most local market stalls, BaoBao, 50bt from markets andBB, upto 150bt supermarkets.

 

Cheap or expensive, glasses only harm your eyes if you buy the wrong strength.

[FolkGuitar]

5 minutes ago, eyecatcher said:

Tesco, big c, tops, most local market stalls, BaoBao, 50bt from markets andBB, upto 150bt supermarkets.

 

Cheap or expensive, glasses only harm your eyes if you buy the wrong strength.

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

Where would I find these in Tops? I shop there often and never noticed.

What is BaoBoa, and where do I find it?

Thanks

[FredLee]

Even some of the small Tesco stores have them. They are generally on a spin rack with the cheap sunglasses. 

 

[flare]

I don't know the name of it, but the small bookstore chain (like the one in Big C Hang Dong near the row of ATMs on the left side- there are outlets in other Tesco and Big C complexes) has a good selection of decent reading glasses.

[FolkGuitar]

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

I'm sure I'll be able to find what I need now.

[stuartd1]

Wander round the local market, most have a stall/shop selling reading glasses.

If you are near Chiang Mai Gate there is a good one 50 yards North of the gate, also does watch repairs.

[Thainesss]

Why not just spend the (very small amount) money and get your eyeballs checked in a proper vision machine and get a proper paper prescription? Its so cheap and easy it makes no sense not to do it. 

 

"Non-prescription" Reading glasses are actually just prescription glasses with single numerical numbers like +2.5. 

 

Im asking this because I recently did it and got an actual prescription pair made and one of the biggest issues with eyeballs is what's called 'astigmatism'. And that does not get fixed with basic glasses like mentioned in the OP. 

 

I was shocked at how much easier it was to read when I got my eyes properly corrected with prescription glasses. 

 

[ramrod711]

20 baht store in KSK, my wife just bought 2 pair yesterday.

[Dante99]

2 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

Why not just spend the (very small amount) money and get your eyeballs checked in a proper vision machine and get a proper paper prescription? Its so cheap and easy it makes no sense not to do it. 

 

 

 

For me it makes sense not to do it.  I got new lenses in my eyes and everything corrected except reading.  Been this way for 12 years.  Always use the same reading prescription, it will not change.  No reason to get another prescription telling me the same thing again. It may not be proper but I am not either.

[Thainesss]

7 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

For me it makes sense not to do it.  I got new lenses in my eyes and everything corrected except reading.  Been this way for 12 years.  Always use the same reading prescription, it will not change.  No reason to get another prescription telling me the same thing again. It may not be proper but I am not either.

 

I mean that's ok and everything but its bad advice that goes against just about all standard medical practice, especially as one gets older, and does not correct astigmatism. 

 

It takes less than an hour to have a proper check done and with the paper prescription you can order glasses on the internet for next to nothing. 

 

Ive youve been using the same prescription for 12 years I would wager that it has probably changed in that time. 

 

I didn't do this for a long time but I'm glad I did and how much more clear my vision is with the correction. 

[owl sees all]

Don't waste your money on expensive glasses.

 

Exercise your eyes twice a day (but not with your eyes closed).

 

I'm 72, do not wear glasses and can see a squirel in a tree at 200 metres. and can recognise individual koi carp in my pond when they are half metre down.

 

Try the exercise first.

Edited November 16, 2019 by owl sees all
inserted an 'e' into exercis

[Thainesss]

3 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Don't waste your money on expensive glasses.

 

I don't see how a few hundred baht for the exam and another few hundred baht for cheap prescription glasses tailored to your personal eyeballs is classed as 'expensive'?

[Olmate]

5 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Don't waste your money on expensive glasses.

 

Exercise your eyes twice a day (but not with your eyes closed).

 

I'm 72, do not wear glasses and can see a squirel in a tree at 200 metres. and can recognise individual koi carp in my pond when they are half metre down.

 

Try the exercis first.

And you talk to the fish as well

[owl sees all]

15 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

I don't see how a few hundred baht for the exam and another few hundred baht for cheap prescription glasses tailored to your personal eyeballs is classed as 'expensive'?

I've heard of glasses from the high street shops cost as much as 399 baht.

 

Unless you have had an eye injury, a desease or a cornial graft you can usually buy glasses to suit for 50 baht or so.

 

Go to the market and find a pair that you like and then check out the lens. It could be that one eye is -25 and the other is -50 (for example). In that case buy two pair. Simply take out the lens from one and put it in the other. A splash of super glue (very cheap here) and you are sorted.

 

The shop outside our local Tesco sells designer, perscription  specs for 20 baht each. So even if you have to buy two it's not too expesive.

 

But, the exercise that I suggest should be tried first. PM me for details.

Edited November 16, 2019 by owl sees all
Changed 200 to 399

[owl sees all]

17 minutes ago, Olmate said:

And you talk to the fish as well

Yes! Very droll Olmate.

 

Here I am trying to help the aged, the aflicted and the cash strapped and you are less than concerned.

 

I do not talk to the fish; well not in Engliah anyway. And I notice that TVForum's main man jokster has given you a like. Dear, dear dear.

Edited November 16, 2019 by owl sees all

[Thainesss]

Just now, owl sees all said:

I've heard of glasses from the high street shops cost as much as 200 baht.

 

If you think $6 is "high street" for a set of tailored prescription glasses.... I don't really know what to say to that. 

 

I spent $325 on a pair of polarized prescription Ray-Bans in the states and that was still money well spent just for driving alone. 

 

6 minutes ago, owl sees all said:

Unless you have had an eye injury, a desease or a cornial graft you can usually buy glasses to suit for 50 baht or so.

 

Go to the market and find a pair that you like and then check out the lens. It could be that one eye is -25 and the other is -50 (for example). In that case buy two pair. Simply take out the lens from one and put it in the other. A splash of super glue (very cheap here) and you are sorted.

 

The shop outside our local Tesco sells designer, perscription  specs for 20 baht each. So even if you have to buy two it's not too expesive.

 

None of this fixes astigmatism which roughly 30% of the population has. 

[1FinickyOne]

places like kad suan kaew and Big C etc.. always tend to have vendors w/a table set up in the hallways... very makeshift kiosks and the prices usually range from 100 baht on up... 

[Thainesss]

I just don't understand why people will commit to wearing glasses and admitting they need them but draw the line at having a professional exam done.

 

Speaking from personal experience I was completely unaware how unclear my vision was until it was corrected. Reading is easier, driving at night is shockingly clearer, and no more headaches. 

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, Thainesss said:

Why not just spend the (very small amount) money and get your eyeballs checked in a proper vision machine and get a proper paper prescription? Its so cheap and easy it makes no sense not to do it. 

A vision machine?

I just had double cornea transplants at Sriphat Medical Center last week. The doctor did a fair bit of checking using half a dozen different vision machines before recommending cataract surgery, so I'm actually fairly certain about my needs at this point.

 

.......and one of the biggest issues with eyeballs is what's called 'astigmatism'. And that does not get fixed with basic glasses like mentioned in the OP.

 

Correct. But it DOES get corrected with the implants of 'Toric Lenses' used in my surgery. Completely.

I can see crystal clear at all distances except reading. Even the distance to my computer monitor makes it perfectly clear.  However, for reading at a distance of 12"-14"  I require reading glasses with a 1.75 rating.

 

But I do appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

[Dante99]

58 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

 

59 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

 

I mean that's ok and everything but its bad advice that goes against just about all standard medical practice, especially as one gets older, and does not correct astigmatism. 

 

It takes less than an hour to have a proper check done and with the paper prescription you can order glasses on the internet for next to nothing. 

 

Ive youve been using the same prescription for 12 years I would wager that it has probably changed in that time. 

 

I didn't do this for a long time but I'm glad I did and how much more clear my vision is with the correction. 

I will take that wager for USD 1,000,000. The new lenses I had put in my eyes corrected the astigmatism.  New lenses in my eyes is what I wrote, not new lenses in glasses.  The new lenses in my eyes are strong plastic so will not change shape.  So the prescription for the reading glasses will not change.     

 

What I did was common medical practice, consistant with good medical advice and you are uninformed and incorrect to suggest otherwise.

[Thainesss]

42 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

you are uninformed and incorrect to suggest otherwise.

How the hell was I supposed to know that “new lenses put in my eyes” was somehow supposed to mean you had corrective surgery. 
 

You could have just said you had surgery. You and whoever else had eye surgery could have just said that. My posts were clearly aimed at the people who can’t see clearly but choose to buy $2 Big C glasses and refuse to buy anything better because of reasons that make zero sense. 

[CGW]

1 hour ago, owl sees all said:

Exercise your eyes twice a day (but not with your eyes closed).

How do you "exercise" your eyes? the problem with your eyes is they are never able to relax, even when you sleep your eyes are still "working" (REM) the secret to resetting your eyes is being able to relax them so the muscles around the eyes return to their natural positions, so most need to learn to relax their eyes, not exercise them.

[Dante99]

7 minutes ago, Thainesss said:

How the hell was I supposed to know that “new lenses put in my eyes” was somehow supposed to mean you had corrective surgery. 

How the hell could new lenses be put into eyes without surgery?

[Rimmer]

Closed per OP request