It was an ‘eye opening’ experience at the Sunday, September 2, meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club (PCEC). There were two doctors as presenters, one an ophthalmologist and the other a recipient of an eye procedure. Both men’s talks were ‘illuminating’.
After the usual welcomes and announcements, MC Ren Alexander introduced to a warm welcome a special surprise guest, Peter Malhotra; a longtime friend to the club. Peter is the owner and managing editor of Pattaya’s first and still the best English language newspaper, the Pattaya Mail, which is celebrating its 25 years of service to Pattaya.
This was followed by the main speaker, Dr. Bundit Leethanaporn, MD, from Bangkok Hospital Pattaya’s Eye Center. His topic was, “What happens to your eyes as you age and what you can do about it.” He was followed by Dr. Iain Corness with a short presentation about his experience with Super Sight Surgery.
Dr. Bundit’s specialty is Ophthalmology (Eyes), Cornea, and Refractive Surgery. He received his Doctor of Medicine in 2007 from the Faculty of Medicine, King Chulalongkorn University. In 2012, he received his Diplomate from the Thai Board of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkhla University followed in 2013 with the Certificate of Fellowship in Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Department of Ophthalmology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Bundit gave a clear, easy to follow presentation that was easy to understand. There was a hint at the good stuff to come when in Seinfeld style the doctor strongly hinted that all the problems associated with aging and the eyes could be avoided, when he said “Don’t get old.” He spoke about the three most common problems with aging eyes, Cataracts, Macular Degeneration, and Glaucoma.
His Power Point presentation was comprehensive with easy to understand slides. With the aid of photos and diagrams, Dr Bundit described the makeup of the eye and then went into the three problems, explaining how they occur, how they affect vision, and the types of treatment available. He emphasized clearly that the onset and severity of all these conditions can be quickened by certain self-imposed risk factors including smoking, diet and lifestyle.
Our 2nd speaker of the day was Dr. Iain Corness, MD, who is well known in Pattaya, where he has many roles; consultant at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, writer of several columns for the Pattaya Mail, author of two bestselling books about farang living in Thailand, race car driver, and many more. Dr. Iain has given several presentations to the Club on medical and other subjects.
Dr. Iain said he was basically going to pass on his experience with Super Sight surgery. He did so with a complete description of the procedure which he noted was painless and short; 40 minutes per eye. It is similar to Cataract surgery in that the natural lens of the eye is replaced with multifocal artificial lenses. In the majority of cases, eyeglasses are no longer necessary for close or far distance. He mentioned that he remembers afterward, arousing from slumber in his hospital room and grabbing the TV control to turn on the “beast.” His surprise was that for the first time in many years he could actually see the numbers on the remote without glasses. He said he has had no problems since the surgery two years ago and it has vastly improved all aspects of his viewing.
The meeting concluded with the MC Ren Lexander bringing everyone up to date on upcoming events followed by the Open Forum where members and guests can ask questions or make comments about Expat living in Thailand. Learn more about their activities or to subscribe to their weekly newsletter, visit www.pcec.club.
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