Spectacles Cheaper in S E Asia ?

I am planning a trip to S E Asia, and am wondering if it is really worth while to take my spectacle prescription with me. It’s about time I renewed my glasses, so is it truly cheaper to have them made up in Bangkok, Thailand or Bali, Indonesia? I was told by a friend the cheapest place he had ever found was in Nepal?

I had reading glasses prepared for me 5 years ago, when in Bangkok, and intend to do so again when I am back there next month. There was an optometrist on staff at the shop (Miki Eyeware) and the eyetest cost was included. Noteworthy though, I found that quality titanium frames were much cheaper there than I would have paid at home. Don't know about Denpasar or Kathmandu.

Yes any of those places will be cheape than anywhere in the west. What size face do have - if you are wider than the average Asian face, particular if you wan a woman's style than stick the large places ilke Bangkok or Singapore which will have a range of imported frames. I got my last pair of perscription sunglasses (and Ihave an expensive perscription) in vietnam for about $50 - ready in 2 hours -Italian frames - I ddint have the heart to bargain

I have gotten several pairs of progressive bi focals in Thailand,they had better quality and lighter lenses then are available in the USA (my US supplier told me this)best thing I can pass on is to find someone you can communicate well with in order to prevent problems and get them in time that you can return them if they are not proper.

I just had the arm of my hingless Sillouette glasses FALL off. Now that might seem like no big deal but they're titanium!!! The hingless arms (always open) are fine wire and advertised as being able to be practically tied in knots. Indestructible in ordinary use supposedly. Well the arm didn't fall off at the connecting point, it actually snapped just beyond that point. Too much flexing? Flaw in the metal? Anyway, getting a new one isn't a problem, just a $100 Canadian. For ONE arm!!!

I bought them in the UK and would have taken them back for replacement under warranty but guess what, I'm not living there any more. You might want to give that some thought LeicesterGuy.

Same story. I got a prescription filled in Chiangmai. Very trendy frames not to be found in Canada, and the glasses lasted for years. When I needed a prescription change I reused the frames. Money well-spent.

Get them done in a large, full-service city like Bangkok, where there are a lot of options for quality service, rather than a tourist-oriented smaller place like Bali. The cost is generally inexpensive enough that even if they only last a year or two (unlikely) , you are getting good value. I have had good luck with glasses made in Bangkok, and I have a persnickety myopia prescription requiring special order high-index refractive material and a 10-day production time. If you have a very strong or unusual prescription, make sure you give them enough time to get them made up properly. If you have fairly standard prescription, they can do pretty quickly while you sightsee around Bangkok.

I just bought 2 pairs yesterday while I am here in BKK. I also have a persnickey perscription, but the optician who was helping me seemed very professional and knowledgeable. The glasses won't be ready for a few days, but I will be in and out of BKK over the nex few weeks, so I was fine with that. The price is about 1/2 of what I would have paid in Canada. Perhaps if you were in the downtown area, you may get a better deal, as I was dealing with a smaller office in the Thewet area. I also recommend going with a friend who speaks Thai, or dealing with an office where someone speaks ENglish, as there are some details that are difficult to work out with sign/body language!

My current glasses were purchased in BKK. The exam was included in the cost of the lenses. The prescription (continuous focus) is excellent, but the frame I got is poor quality. I would do it again (cost was 20% of comparable in the US), but I would be more careful about the frame I selected.

Haggling over the price is expected and necessary ;-)

I purchased a titanium framed progressive lens glasses in Hangzhou, China, when I lived there for a year, for about $200. Apparently, the lens have to be imported (so there you go - not everything is "Made in China""). I had a major language problem as I bought them in my outlying neighbourhood. Since returning, my local optitian will not adjust them, and made disparaging remarks about "titanium is not always titanium", and that they have cheap nosepieces, etc. An interesting aside, just had my eyes checked by an optomotrist, who unlike the optitian, says I still really just need drugstore glasses!

Would I do it again?? I'm not sure. I probably would have spent twice or three times as much here, but then I would have ongoing service with my local people who would tweak them whenever required.

Currently in Malaysia. Average price for a pairs of progressives is US$65, but of course you can add $$ for tony designer frames.

Last winter I got my progressive glasses/photochromic/coated lenses glasses at Siam Optical In Sukumvit Road in Bangkok. Cheaper than getting them in France. This coming winter Mrs Faz will be following my example. I recommend the shop. It is close to Asoke skytrain stop.

Malaysian update:
progressive lenses 200RM
frames 75RM
glare coating 80RM
exam included

(3.3RM == US$1)

This was in a place popular with the locals, in Chinatown (Penang). At places in the malls frames cost at least 300RM for designer junk.

i got some prescriptions in chaing mai...the left lense kept falling out but i was already out of the country

...stopped at a shop in kampot camabodia to get them repaired...the owner asked if i got them in thailand...said i thought so to my affirmatiave reply & repaired them for free

Arm of my specs fell off. Was a tube that slipped into the arm that came out. Local eye shop wanted $48. to replace it with a used one. I just got a tube of $1.89 crazy glue. 4 months later all is still well. Arms are the expanding type. Not designer fashion.