optometrist where to find a real one

[JimmyJ]

On 5/14/2022 at 2:36 PM, FolkGuitar said:

Dr. Paradee, my ophthalmologist at Sri Phat Medical Center (who has been treating me well for three years; operations and follow-ups) recommended that I visit the optometrist who had recently left the Medical Center to open her own business. I can't remember her name, but her shop is located 50m on the right down Ratvithi Soi 1 off Moon Muang Rd.

If you can read Thai, here's a pic of the front of the shop, including phone numbers.

She is 'Old School.' She uses 'try lenses' rather than that big bug-eye looking machine that never seems to get my numbers right! She, on the other hand, doesn't stop swapping lenses and moving axis until you can see the very best image.  Then she will offer to make your glasses and a price that beats all the chain shops!

@FolkGuitar

 

I would like to go there for glasses - wandered around yesterday trying to find it.

 

"...her shop is located 50m on the right down Ratvithi Soi 1 off Moon Muang Rd."

 

There is no Eye Glass shop on Ratvithi Soi 1 (the street sign in English says "Ratvithi Lane 1").

There is "The Corner Inn", motel like apts. next door, a children's nursery. 

Not any abandoned shop space that could have been it.

 

Tried a Search, called a # but not enough English to understand, and seemed like the wrong place anyway.

 

Do you have a street address, lat./long,  phone #, etc.?

 

"...off Moon Muang Rd."

Do you mean it intersects Moon Mueang? 

Ratvithi Soi 1 does not.

 

The sign you showed mentions a possible clinic but couldn't track it down searching that name either.

 

I also have the same question that DesLez asked - "What is her English like"?

 

 

[nigelforbes]

On 5/13/2022 at 12:49 PM, cnx1204 said:

Do not quite understand your words "proper seeing eye doc".

 

Every eye glasses shop I have been to for a new prescription has an optometrist on duty that does the exam.  I don't know what you mean, Murrinman, by a retail shop.   The optometrist do the exam for "free" and their shop sells lenses and frames at the retail level.  

 

Do you mean you want to see an ophthalmologist rather than an optometrist?  If so, you will need to go to an eye clinic or one of the hospitals.  The eye clinics at Ram and Bkk Hosp where I have been examined by ophthalmologists do not sell glasses but they can give you a prescription.  

 

You could then walk in a "retail store" and buy against that prescription.

There are less than 1,500 licensed and qualified optometrists in Thailand and nearly all of them own their own businesses, hardly any work for high street/shopping mall eye glass stores. The people you have seen when you've visited eye glass shops in Thailand are not optometrists, almost certainly.

 

 https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/CMMJ-MedCMJ/article/view/144499

[nigelforbes]

I personally will never ever use any ophthalmologist apart from specialists at Rutnin, following a torn retina, followed by mis diagnosis, interspersed by some seriously unprofessional game playing, on the part of a senior ophthalmologist and a private hospital in the North.

[CMBob]

OP, all you had to do is google the name of the eye clinic as shown on the photo you posted.  This is what I get.....

Off of Soi 1, Ratwithi, as you were directed.....

 

[JimmyJ]

3 hours ago, CMBob said:

OP, all you had to do is google the name of the eye clinic as shown on the photo you posted.  This is what I get.....

Off of Soi 1, Ratwithi, as you were directed.....

 

Thank you! Very helpful.

And it spurred me to finally sit down and set up a new Map/Route app and study how to use it, which I'm working on right now.

 

@FolkGuitar - Apologies!

Apparently your directions were fine and I blew it on finding it.

 

 

[Pond Life]

Has anyone had Bi-Focals made in Chiang Mai recently ?

If so where ?

Thanks

[nigelforbes]

7 hours ago, Pond Life said:

Has anyone had Bi-Focals made in Chiang Mai recently ?

If so where ?

Thanks

Is there a reason why you specifically need bi-focals, vari-focals have long been regarded as their replacement in most countries for well over a decade?

[seedy]

8 hours ago, Pond Life said:

Has anyone had Bi-Focals made in Chiang Mai recently ?

If so where ?

Thanks

If you opt for the light weight high quality German brand lenses they will most likely be made in BKK. Mine were - purchased November.

[drtreelove]

9 hours ago, Pond Life said:

Has anyone had Bi-Focals made in Chiang Mai recently ?

If so where ?

Thanks

Vision Center – Fyndeal

 

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, nigelforbes said:

Is there a reason why you specifically need bi-focals, vari-focals have long been regarded as their replacement in most countries for well over a decade?

Personally, I prefer bi-focals for motorcycle riding. Even the very best vari-focal lens have blurred peripheral image, with sharp and clear just a narrow strip down the lower middle. The width of that strip depends on the price of the lens, but even with the most expensive, there is still blurred peripheral vision in 2/3 of the lens.

When I'm driving, I want as much of my peripheral vision to be sharp and clear as possible.

[Dante99]

Back to the topic:

 

True MD to test your eyes and make you glasses, referred to me by MD at CM Ram is

 

New York Optician

253/1 Chaaang Puak Road

 

053 215 224

 

 

[nigelforbes]

2 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Back to the topic:

 

True MD to test your eyes and make you glasses, referred to me by MD at CM Ram is

 

New York Optician

253/1 Chaaang Puak Road

 

053 215 224

 

 

I would much prefer to get the prescription as part of an annual check by an Ophthalmologist that I trust, that way the glasses shop doesn't have to do anything apart from the mechanical construction and fitting part and I can shop around based on price alone.

[lopburi3]

12 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

I would much prefer to get the prescription as part of an annual check by an Ophthalmologist that I trust, that way the glasses shop doesn't have to do anything apart from the mechanical construction and fitting part and I can shop around based on price alone.

Agree that much better to have an actual eye exam and obtain prescription, although many of us have found better price options available online than from local sellers.  So if you have a good fitting frame perhaps best to measure that and order online for delivery here (if China is actually back in business after Covid lockdowns).

[Dante99]

13 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

I would much prefer to get the prescription as part of an annual check by an Ophthalmologist that I trust, that way the glasses shop doesn't have to do anything apart from the mechanical construction and fitting part and I can shop around based on price alone.

Yeh, well the Ophthalmologist we trust is the man who owns that shop.  The fact that he sells glasses too is not a problem for us and there really is not much reason it should be.  I really do not care to spend time shopping around for the best price for glasses.

[nigelforbes]

14 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Yeh, well the Ophthalmologist we trust is the man who owns that shop.  The fact that he sells glasses too is not a problem for us and there really is not much reason it should be.  I really do not care to spend time shopping around for the best price for glasses.

delete

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Yeh, well the Ophthalmologist we trust is the man who owns that shop.  The fact that he sells glasses too is not a problem for us and there really is not much reason it should be.  I really do not care to spend time shopping around for the best price for glasses.

But the shop name indicates optician

[nigelforbes]

Here's why I'm very choosy about who treats my eyes.

 

I woke up one morning with a very large floater in my right eye, foolishly I decided to wait for a week before getting it checked. A week later I went to a well known private hospital, unfortunately my trusted Ophthalmologist wasn’t working that day. I was offered a student nurse which I declined and said I needed to see a retinal expert, by now I understood the potential risks I faced. The receptionist said, “rentinal expert here in one hour, you wait”. Some time later my pupils were dilated and I was seen by the “retinal expert” who said everything was normal but I should come back in a few weeks to check.

 

Two weeks later I was seen by a very different doctor who after questioning claimed it was them I had seen two weeks earlier, the differences between the two were stark in every respect. I played along to see what was going to happen. Thirty seconds into the exam the doctor said I had a torn retina and that laser surgery must be performed there and then, the doctor was quite panicky. I declined but the doctor persisted, I held my ground on the basis that 24 hours probably wasn’t going to make much difference at this point. I couldn’t find a better qualified Ophthalmologist so I underwent laser surgery the next day.

 

Several follow up visits later and the floater remained, despite being told it would disappear, I had lost confidence in my doctor. I sought a second opinion from an Ophthalmologist at an eye hospital and was told I needed 360 degree laser surgery to both eyes, by this point I was seriously unhappy with the advice and treatment I’d received. Out of desperation I made an appointment at the Rutnin to see Dr Roy and was seen within 24 hours. Both my retina’s were photographed in hi res-color, the entire retina’s. Dr Roy did a visual exam and confirmed that all was well, my retina’s being displayed on a 50 inch screen on his office wall for us both to view.

 

Dr Roy’s findings were that the laser surgery has been successful and no further intervention was required, he said I was lucky because I had waited a long time before having surgery. His advice was to forget the second Ophthalmologist I had seen and not go back. Dr Roy went on to say that the floater would remain with me forever. In case you don’t know, Dr Roy is US educated and trained and was Resident at Emory University.

 

Later, I posted my experience on FB and advised readers to positively ID beforehand, any doctor they see and to check their photograph on the hospital web site. Shortly after that was posted, there was a mass change in photo’s on that hospitals web site, along with photo’s of the Ophthalmologist who did my surgery, at other private hospitals.

 

NO names, no pack drill!

[Dante99]

24 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

But the shop name indicates optician

The owner operator has an MD, his degree and certificates are on the wall, go see for yourself.  Oh maybe you can't because your name indicates you are a place not a person.

[amexpat]

On 5/14/2022 at 11:28 PM, JimTripper said:

I get mine done in the USA when I go back every year ????

Thank you for sharing.

 

[seedy]

Used for the last couple of years. Have Glaucoma so need a yearly visit. Husband and wife both Doctors

https://goo.gl/maps/G2skEFhzYHghfpKV6

[JimmyJ]

5 hours ago, drtreelove said:

Vision Center – Fyndeal

 

Agree - but I suggest calling and making sure the male owner will be there.

 

[JimmyJ]

On 5/14/2022 at 2:36 PM, FolkGuitar said:

Dr. Paradee, my ophthalmologist at Sri Phat Medical Center (who has been treating me well for three years; operations and follow-ups) recommended that I visit the optometrist who had recently left the Medical Center to open her own business. I can't remember her name, but her shop is located 50m on the right down Ratvithi Soi 1 off Moon Muang Rd.

If you can read Thai, here's a pic of the front of the shop, including phone numbers.

She is 'Old School.' She uses 'try lenses' rather than that big bug-eye looking machine that never seems to get my numbers right! She, on the other hand, doesn't stop swapping lenses and moving axis until you can see the very best image.  Then she will offer to make your glasses and a price that beats all the chain shops!

@FolkGuitar - What is her name?

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

@FolkGuitar - What is her name?

It's either Dr. Sopa or Dr.Vannee.  At the time I was introduced, my hearing aids were busted, and I'm not sure which is which. But it is the older woman, not the younger man that you want to have examine you.

[Rotweiler]

Her name is Khun Vannee.  The name of the clinic is Jaksu Patana.

[JimmyJ]

On 5/14/2022 at 2:36 PM, FolkGuitar said:

Dr. Paradee, my ophthalmologist at Sri Phat Medical Center (who has been treating me well for three years; operations and follow-ups) recommended that I visit the optometrist who had recently left the Medical Center to open her own business. I can't remember her name, but her shop is located 50m on the right down Ratvithi Soi 1 off Moon Muang Rd.

If you can read Thai, here's a pic of the front of the shop, including phone numbers.

She is 'Old School.' She uses 'try lenses' rather than that big bug-eye looking machine that never seems to get my numbers right! She, on the other hand, doesn't stop swapping lenses and moving axis until you can see the very best image.  Then she will offer to make your glasses and a price that beats all the chain shops!

I found out the hard way that this shop is ONLY open Saturdays 9am to noon.

 

But worked out OK - Vision Center came up with an inexpensive solution to my current situation.

The owner of Vision Center is off on Thursdays and closed Sundays. He's there the other 5 days. Make sure he is there when you go.

[Photoguy21]

On 5/14/2022 at 8:23 AM, Rotweiler said:

There are many shops that sell prescription glasses.  There are VERY few medically-trained optometrists in them.  A few opticians, maybe - more likely staff with a 3-day course on how to "use" the automatic good for everyone testing machine.  

 

In Chiang Mai, for example, appear to be a few certified opticians; far fewer optometrists.  I know of only one (rotating between Sri Phat and RAM - Khun Vanee.

How do you know they are not properly trained? I assume it is purely your opinion but if not I would like to know so I can avoid them.

[mania]

On 12/11/2022 at 10:13 AM, nigelforbes said:

 

Thirty seconds into the exam the doctor said I had a torn retina and that laser surgery must be performed there and then, the doctor was quite panicky. I declined but the doctor persisted, I held my ground on the basis that 24 hours probably wasn’t going to make much difference at this point. I couldn’t find a better qualified Ophthalmologist so I underwent laser surgery the next day.

 

Several follow up visits later and the floater remained, despite being told it would disappear, I had lost confidence in my doctor. I sought a second opinion from an Ophthalmologist at an eye hospital and was told I needed 360 degree laser surgery to both eyes, by this point I was seriously unhappy with the advice and treatment I’d received.

You were fleeced for that floater (which you still have)

The good news is you were not fleeced a second time with the 360 BS

 

Floaters are not a big deal & your brain will eventually deal with it & you won't see them anymore.

Also some small flashes of light when you first turn off lights is normal with aging eyes due to these micro tears

 

Sad but true yes Falang enters a Thai hospital & is told you need this NOW is often usually $$$ BS

 

Trust me I flew all the way back to the USA just to be laughed at by real doctors when I told them

The famous kidney doctor of Thailand said I need an operation NOW

 

7 years later I see the laughing doctors in the USA were right as I listened to them & had nothing done.

 

It is a hard to accept fact that even doctors in Thailand will fleece you & worse use your fears to do so.

It is when I realized it does not matter in Thailand....street vendors...immigration officers...monks...all cut from the same cloth

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

How do you know they are not properly trained? I assume it is purely your opinion but if not I would like to know so I can avoid them.

He knows because of the number of such shops far exceeds the total number of trained optometrists.  The profession itself has only been around in Thailand for the last decade.

Quote

In 2010, optometry was recognized as a legalprofession in Thailand, and a standard curriculum was set, based on the Ramkhamhaeng/IU model. Ramkhamhaeng's optometry program attained official status as a school in 2012.

https://news.iu.edu/stories/features/thailand/university-partnership-helped-establish-optometry-in-thailand.html

[Photoguy21]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

He knows because of the number of such shops far exceeds the total number of trained optometrists.  The profession itself has only been around in Thailand for the last decade.

https://news.iu.edu/stories/features/thailand/university-partnership-helped-establish-optometry-in-thailand.html

Thanks for the reply but the assumption is being made that all the shops selling glasses do not have qualified people doing the testing. This is really what I am getting at. How do you know that shop 'A' does not have a qualified person to perform the testing?

[lopburi3]

56 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Thanks for the reply but the assumption is being made that all the shops selling glasses do not have qualified people doing the testing. This is really what I am getting at. How do you know that shop 'A' does not have a qualified person to perform the testing?

Unless you know probably best to visit ophthalmologist at a hospital.  Cost is not that much here.