Why are there so many glasses shops in Thailand, when I see relatively few Thais wearing glasses?

Optical shops also sell contact lenses...

optical shop is the business with very high profit margin. They sell expensive product that cost nothing and you make more than 100 percent profit.

When you open a optical shop in a street, within a month a second one will open close to yours...go figure why!

Optical shops also sell contact lenses...

Unless contacts are cheap as dirt here, that doesn't explain it.

Most of the people around where I live are really poor, but few wear glasses, and there are dozens of glasses shops.

Because their owners are shortsighted?

I just bought pair of frames, no lens, the price was ฿8,000, but they were on sale for half price which is usually the case, so I paid ฿4,000, I figure the frames cost about ฿500 to make if that. So a store can probably cover their costs and make a profit if they sell one set of frames a day.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ X using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

4,000 baht sounds very expensive for plastic. You could have found something less expensive.

Number of traffic accidents should be a clue.

most thai people have

invisible blinders

aka narrow /single minded

with a very short fuse to blow at any time (to stab or kill you)

Edited December 26, 201312 yr by belg

Dunno why, but I've had nothing but excellent results when having prescription glasses/sunglasses made in Bangkok. Cheap and fast...same as I like my...

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

I heard that the main chain of eye glass shops (you know the one) has connections so they don't need profits. Don't know if that is true or why they would want to operate at a loss either way. Anyway, just something that people kept telling me when I asked (and I asked many people). Dunno.

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

Oh dear.........

Number of traffic accidents should be a clue.

That's three times now (the last time was today) I have seen a pick-up driving very slowly with his off-side wheels just outside the line on the hard shoulder. It is not hard to figure out why he is driving like that. It is just an accident looking for a place to happen, but hey, TiT.

I bought a pair of Ray Bans in Chiang Rai and they were over $120 cheaper than in Perth. The sales girl was very happy ! Got some good commission. She said that they had sold nothing for 2 days and this was the first pair of good quality Ray Bans they had ever sold. Only had 1 pair in the shop.

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

You are in Thailand are you not?

dotpoom, on 26 Dec 2013 - 17:14, said:dotpoom, on 26 Dec 2013 - 17:14, said:

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

Then I suggest you need glasses.

Ask your wife or a friend to take you by the hand to one of those.

Promise you .....plenty around, you will be amazed with what you see......when you wear your new glasses.

Only hope you are not disappointed with your tirrak!!!!

Edited December 26, 201312 yr by Costas2008

Dunno why, but I've had nothing but excellent results when having prescription glasses/sunglasses made in Bangkok. Cheap and fast...same as I like my...

I've had the opposite luck.

Poor quality and about 2-3x what they'd cost at a discount shop back in the USA, and about 4-6x what they'd have cost by mail order.

I should clarify that the materials are okay, but they didn't get the prescription right 2 out of 2 times, and at different optical shops.

I think Bender got it right. Very high margins so they only have to sell a few pairs a week to pay their staff and the rent.

(But then, I don't know how bad the "skin tax" is on glasses- I imagine locals must get a better price, because I can't see someone spending what amounts to 20-30 days' minimum wage for a simple pair of glasses)

Edited December 26, 201312 yr by impulse

Optical shops also sell contact lenses...

Unless contacts are cheap as dirt here, that doesn't explain it.

Most of the people around where I live are really poor, but few wear glasses, and there are dozens of glasses shops.

Think of the shops as a "laundry!" You never see people in the shops!

Because people are stupid enough to pay 10000+ a pair of glasses that is made for $10 at the factory ?

Coz most Thai's cant see further than the end of their nose's......

Money laundering

most thai people have

invisible blinders

aka narrow /single minded

with a very short fuse to blow at any time (to stab or kill you)

These could also be useful so people would not see the plastic sacks they throw down all the time on the ground.

Money laundering. Please let me answer your question with s question.

Why are there so many fast food restaurants in America? I'd prefer to eat Chinese eye glasses to a Big Mac.-

Edited December 26, 201312 yr by sirchai

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

You might need some glasses.

(Just yoking)

Somewhat the same as when I used to go to the Greek islands... In Crete or Rhodes, the biggest shop of umbtellas I ever saw. Umbrellas wall to wall, all shapes, all colours,

Does not rain there all summer.

I never saw Greeks using umbrellas to shelters themselves from the sun. Might be some.

All targeted for the tourists, who come from rainy countries...

Never saw more beautiful umbrellas anywhere else in the world...

I think that some Thais collect them. I swear my missus has more pairs of specs than Elton John.

There never seems to be any customers.

The only logical reason that there are so many shops is that the profits must be there to support them. It has never failed to amaze me how stupid most people are when it comes to shopping for glasses. Once when I was in Korea I needed a pair of glasses in an emergency. I had a recent prescription from a doctor in Thailand so I was able to get the lens made using that prescription. All I needed was a pair of frames. I went into the a couple of shops to compare and settled on a shop that had the cheapest frames I could find in a basic design and color. I gave them the prescription and I was told to come back the next day to pick them up and pay the balance due. One lady customer remarked how quickly I decided on what I wanted from the many choices available. I told her only an idiot would spend a lot of money on designer frames. The sole purpose of frames, I told her, was to hold a couple of pieces of optical glass up in front of her eyes so she could see. On that basis, I told her I always got the cheapest, plainest frames I could find and frequently used the frames from older glasses rather than buy new frames each time I had a new prescription. She did not take kindly to the advice.

My point is that the only reason there are so many optical shops in Thailand is that people have not wised up in the thirty plus years since that encounter in Korea happened and continue purchase high profit margins designer frames thus wasting their money in the pursuit of fashion. For mundane products, I put function over fashion and if more farang tourists joined me in that there would be far fewer optical shops in Thailand.

What optical optical shops are you talking about?.........I haven't seen any!

Many seem to have problems "seeing" your joke.......