Time to buy bifocal lense glasses but the quotes seem pretty high. Anyone find a reasonably priced eye glass store? Once bitten, twice shy. Years ago, I paid alnost $500 for just two transition bifocal lenses with all the coatings they could muster... put them in my old frames!

I'm not concerned about how they look at my age, I just want a sturdy plastic framed standard bifocal lense set of glasses.

Appreciate your advice!

I have used Zennioptical (dot com) for years now. Maybe gone through 5 or 6 pairs, as my old age sees my eyeballs changing a lot.

I pay about 140 USD and change for frames and lens, bifocals with no line, plus tinting and darkening in the sun.

You will need a written prescription from a good local optician. Any good place at a mall can provide it. Many times at no cost if you fail to mention you are buying elsewhere.

Zenni has an app that allows you to find a frame you like, upload a face shot and try them on virtually.
Zenni ships them out in less than a week, and shipping is minor.

9 minutes ago, PeterA said:

I have used Zennioptical (dot com) for years now. Maybe gone through 5 or 6 pairs, as my old age sees my eyeballs changing a lot.

I pay about 140 USD and change for frames and lens, bifocals with no line, plus tinting and darkening in the sun.

You will need a written prescription from a good local optician. Any good place at a mall can provide it. Many times at no cost if you fail to mention you are buying elsewhere.

Zenni has an app that allows you to find a frame you like, upload a face shot and try them on virtually.
Zenni ships them out in less than a week, and shipping is minor.

I've tried numerous opticians and none of them will give a prescription unless you buy from them. None of them offer the service for a payment either.

34 minutes ago, PeterA said:

I have used Zennioptical (dot com) for years now. Maybe gone through 5 or 6 pairs, as my old age sees my eyeballs changing a lot.

I pay about 140 USD and change for frames and lens, bifocals with no line, plus tinting and darkening in the sun.

You will need a written prescription from a good local optician. Any good place at a mall can provide it. Many times at no cost if you fail to mention you are buying elsewhere.

Zenni has an app that allows you to find a frame you like, upload a face shot and try them on virtually.
Zenni ships them out in less than a week, and shipping is minor.

I ordered from Zenni a few months ago. They had an option to manually input the prescription, which is what I used. It was about 8,000 baht for the glasses from Zenni with all the higher end options included. Compared to about 30K here in Thailand.

Go to Rutnin for the prescription. No pressure to buy. Very professional specialist hospital.

Get the specs/lenses from Tom Optical in Chonburi. Complete pia to find and get to, but very competent and very fair pricing.

Both can be found on Google Maps.

If you have binocular vision problems, be aware that Thai trained or registered optometrists are not taught, or permitted, to deal with such. Ophthalmologists only, who are only half as good! They do surgery, not specs.

On 6/22/2026 at 9:51 AM, mymonkeyhusb said:

Time to buy bifocal lense glasses but the quotes seem pretty high. Anyone find a reasonably priced eye glass store? Once bitten, twice shy. Years ago, I paid alnost $500 for just two transition bifocal lenses with all the coatings they could muster... put them in my old frames!

I'm not concerned about how they look at my age, I just want a sturdy plastic framed standard bifocal lense set of glasses.

Appreciate your advice!

Just go to one of the mall eyeglass places, pick out one of the cheapest comfortable frames (if they won't use yours) and have them fit the lens, without all of the special coatings.

I've gotten a few pairs from mall vendors, all fine and inexpensive. Knew my script before they told me, and all were accurate.

No need to complicate a simple thing to do.

Edited June 24Jun 24 by KhunLA

We foreigners tend to use the larger eyeglass chains here in Thailand, and wind up paying the long price.

Those small, Mom&Pop shops can provide the same (or better) level of care and diagnosis, and sell lenses and frames at half to a quarter of the price! I bought a pair (two pair, actually, when I saw the price), of Bifocals with stylish frames (no name brand), Photo-tropic coatings, anti-scratch coatings, etc. for 4,500 Baht per pair. I've been using them for the past year and quite satisfied. More so than when I paid 23,000 Baht for basically the same thing through a chain.

4 hours ago, rwill said:

I ordered from Zenni a few months ago. They had an option to manually input the prescription, which is what I used. It was about 8,000 baht for the glasses from Zenni with all the higher end options included. Compared to about 30K here in Thailand.

Certainly, online glasses are the cheapest, if you have your script from here. (Recommend Rutnin Eye Hospital on Asok.)

I don't have a lot of imagination. I can't ever tell what the frames will look like on my face! I have had a dodgy prescription online and they would not refund.

Harder to refund from here if you don't like them. I suggest only an independent glasses shop here, not a chain. Siam Square has reliable shops. I think you'll have to get to Bangkok. Make it a play-date.

4 hours ago, Grusa said:

Go to Rutnin for the prescription. No pressure to buy. Very professional specialist hospital.

Get the specs/lenses from Tom Optical in Chonburi. Complete pia to find and get to, but very competent and very fair pricing.

Both can be found on Google Maps.

If you have binocular vision problems, be aware that Thai trained or registered optometrists are not taught, or permitted, to deal with such. Ophthalmologists only, who are only half as good! They do surgery, not specs.

I have a ton of eye problems. Opthalmologists at public hospitals have all the testing equipment. (Which you may not need at all unless you have progressing cataracts. Waaaay better than an optometrist. An optometrist only fits your spex, maybe has a machine that's not so accurate.

If anyone is interested, this is the main Government eye hospital. They also have a branch on Sukhumvit called the Metta International Eye Centre.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nzvd5u7JnyhXerBC6?g_st=ac

8 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

We foreigners tend to use the larger eyeglass chains here in Thailand, and wind up paying the long price.

Those small, Mom&Pop shops can provide the same (or better) level of care and diagnosis, and sell lenses and frames at half to a quarter of the price! I bought a pair (two pair, actually, when I saw the price), of Bifocals with stylish frames (no name brand), Photo-tropic coatings, anti-scratch coatings, etc. for 4,500 Baht per pair. I've been using them for the past year and quite satisfied. More so than when I paid 23,000 Baht for basically the same thing through a chain.

Was that with a proper eye test?

Find it hard to believe a mom and pop shop can do that. Did the an eye pressure test to assess for glaucoma?

39 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Was that with a proper eye test?

Find it hard to believe a mom and pop shop can do that. Did the an eye pressure test to assess for glaucoma?

I'm under a doctor's care for Glaucoma, with regular bi-annual hospital checkups, so I wasn't looking for a medical exam. That said, the shop did have the device. I'm not talking about an eyeglass vendor's stall in the fresh market. The optometrist first used an Autorefractor to get a general idea of the needed correction, then spent plenty of time swapping lenses into the trial frame until I was satisfied. Personally, I prefer the trial frame to the phoropter. I've never had a good result when measured that way. Then we double-checked the new settings with the Snellen Chart. When I received the glasses, we checked them with the Snellen Chart as well.
When I feel the need for new glasses, I'll go back to the same little shop.