How Often To Have Maid Clean Your Condo?

[Jingthing]

OK, I finally found a cleaner I think I can trust and I want to hire her for my regular condo cleaning. For people who just need condo cleaning and not someone to do laundry, ironing, cooking, dishes etc., how OFTEN would you suggest that is a good balance for your (low) budget, keeping the place clean enough, and fair to the maid (not leaving too much work each time)?

I can't decide between once a week, once a month, or somewhere in between? Tile floors which of course need regular mopping, if that makes a difference.

Edited April 21, 2007 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

In my experience, you should have her clean AT LEAST once a week to be fair and just have a clean place.

[Jingthing]

In my experience, you should have her clean AT LEAST once a week to be fair and just have a clean place.

That's interesting.

Lets say you go for once a week and she normally charges 600 baht a cleaning. Wouldn't it be usual to agree on a lower per-time rate due to the regularity?

[phazey]

Depends if you are an "entertainer" or not - , anyways - mondays and thursdays should suffice..... BUT half day, from 12pm onwards...enough to mop the floors and wash the dishes....

[JimsKnight]

Don't forget you may get an 'indecent' proposal from some of the cleaners maids! So be ready for an appropriate response when they 'throw' you any hints.

Edited April 21, 2007 by JimsKnight

[wadsy]

That's interesting.

Lets say you go for once a week and she normally charges 600 baht a cleaning. Wouldn't it be usual to agree on a lower per-time rate due to the regularity?

Geez H Christ!!! 600baht a cleaning ? The condo cleaner at my place charges 200 baht and usually is there a few hours. My condo is 104sqm, tiled flor etc. IMHO once a week AT 200 baht would be fair. Any more I reckon is way too much. I even know Thai builders that only charge 200 baht a day AND they do a good job...... Just my two bahts worth............

[britmaveric]

Don't forget you may get an 'indecent' proposal from some of the cleaners maids! So be ready for an appropriate response when they 'throw' you any hints.

Uh well spose it depends on how cute they are?

[MTW]

When I had a maid that just came one day per week, she charged 200 baht for the day. That was for about an 8 hour day, I had a 3 bedroom house, me and some dogs.

[SamuiJens]

Don't forget you may get an 'indecent' proposal from some of the cleaners maids! So be ready for an appropriate response when they 'throw' you any hints.

Wishing and hoping, Jim?

[Jingthing]

Yes, 600 baht for a 75 sq meter place appears to be pretty standard in Jomtien, it being a tourist area. I agree this price is kind of dear for a weekly situation that likely wouldn't take more than a few hours tops. Which is why I am trying to figure out what to do thats OK for me and my maid.

[onzestan]

Yes, 600 baht for a 75 sq meter place appears to be pretty standard in Jomtien, it being a tourist area. I agree this price is kind of dear for a weekly situation that likely wouldn't take more than a few hours tops. Which is why I am trying to figure out what to do thats OK for me and my maid.

You could marry her and then she will have to keep the place clean for herself

Cheers

onzestan

p.s. couldn't resist

[dave111223]

I used to livee in a few service appartments that offered free weekly cleaning. And once a week was definately enough.

Just make sure you have a big stack of dirty dishes in the sink so that you get your moneys worth.

600 baht does seem pretty steep even if it took a whole day. And when it takes only acouple hours then it is really quite expensive.

I mean think about it, if it takes 2 hours then the maid could get down 4 condos in an 8 hour day. Thats 2400 a day.

Say she works 300 days a year thats 720,000 per year (over $20,000 a year). And come on! Do you really think the going rate for maid in Thailand is $20,000 a year!

Edited April 21, 2007 by dave111223

[John_Rambo]

I have the maid do twice a week, but i like the place to be clean.

[cm-happy]

MAID?? What a luxury, if you can trust 'em. I do all the house work myself 3 or 4 times a week. "If you want something done right--do it yourself!!". Something to do and keeps me busy, rather than watching the mindless drivel on television.

[jellymeister]

600 baht??????????????????/she better be wearing a french maid's outfit at that exorbitant rate!

[Jingthing]

MAID?? What a luxury, if you can trust 'em. I do all the house work myself 3 or 4 times a week. "If you want something done right--do it yourself!!". Something to do and keeps me busy, rather than watching the mindless drivel on television.

Well, I hate to clean and am not good at it either (take after my dear old Mum). I can't think of anything to do more boring than cleaning. You would think in a low wage country like Thailand that having a cleaner would not be such a luxury. Now a full time driver or butler, thats a luxury.

Edited April 22, 2007 by Jingthing

[chanchao]

I'll join in:

SIX HUNDRED BAHT?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I drop 600 baht in the Pattaya area it's a lot more memorable experience than mopping a floor!

[buriramboy]

the going rate on my estate is about 200 baht for half a days work (4-5 hours).

[Pattaya_Fox]

Some posts have been deleted..........please keep it clean and on topic.

[Glauka]

I agree once a week and for the payment.....

Think in this way How much would you like to be paid to clean someone else dirt? There are many people who thinks that their own dirt is not so disgusting...well they are wrong...it is always disgusting to clean someone else toilet, hairs...etc,

I have been a cleaner while i was doing my degree...

Edited April 22, 2007 by Glauka

[Jingthing]

I agree once a week and for the payment.....

Think in this way How much would you like to be paid to clean someone else dirt? There are many people who thinks that their own dirt is not so disgusting...well they are wrong...it is always disgusting to clean someone else toilet, hairs...etc,

I have been a cleaner while i was doing my degree...

There are lots of more disgusting jobs. I think you have to be business minded about such things and not get into a guilt trip. Nobody made you do cleaning, you decided it was a good option for you at the time. And I have met professional cleaners who enjoy the work because it is not stressful.

Edited April 22, 2007 by Jingthing

[Firefan]

Sounds like the 600 Baht is for a full day visit which I think is too much for "maintenance"-cleaning. In a 1 bed room apt. there is really only 2 hours worth of cleaning - add in dishes and laundry/iron(last laundry) for a max of 4 hours.

Personally I have a maid service (would think also exist in Pattaya?) that handles background checks/sickness/"buffalo sick"-money Etc. 2 times per wk for a couple of hours - costs 2200/mth - I.e. about 275 Baht/visit. Includes laundry/ironing. I could probably negotiate something cheaper myself, but I like the extra layer of a maid service company handling all the "maid-hassle" I have experienced living around the world.

Cheers!

[Jingthing]

Maybe the going rate is higher in Pattaya because Thais generally don't move to Pattaya to clean houses and condos, and the customers and rates I am talking about are all farangs and many short term tourists. It is indeed 600 baht for 2, maybe 3 hours work. I will see if I can negotiate a better deal for a weekly term, which I think is reasonable considering it will then mostly be superficial cleaning.

[MTW]

Okay, you must know that 600 baht for 2-3 hours is too much. This is not the only maid available. If she? wants that much you need to find someone else I would think.

Don't think just because they ask for some amount of money, that is the price. Are you new to Thailand? Have you not tried to buy t-shirts in the markets that cost 1000 baht the first time you ask. The price gets lower, the longer you talk and the more you can show that you know what the real prices are here, and the faster you walk away.

I am not trying to place blame here on you, but the please don't pay stupid money for things like this as it just drives up the prices for the rest of us, and increases the opinion of Thai people that we are stupid.

Firefan also told you what he pays, and that is with an agency getting most of the money. I have a large house in Chiang Mai, 2 people, 4 dogs, and 3 parrots. My maid now lives here, she has a nice room and private bath (not a maids room/bathroom), she probably works 4-6 hours a day, and only takes off a few days a month, but I let her go whenever she asks, (and I give her a months salary as a bonus for New Year, plus tips when I have guests, come back from vacations and she stays here alone, or when I have extra work of some sort. And she has another job in a restaurant where she makes 4,000 a month helping in the kitchen.

She is great, works hard, can think through a problem on her own, and has been trustworthy. When I got here, she worked for a Thai family I rented a house from, and worked more hours a day than for me, and was paid nothing, only free room and board in crapy maids room no hot water, no air, no nothing... and had her second job.

When I first came here I had people asking to work for me, who wanted 10,000 -12,000 a month, and at that time the job was max. 2 hours a day, and I traveled 6 months of the year, and I had a huge second house on my property where their whole family could live for free. I never paid that much, but paid more than now, and had total crap people who did nothing, couldn't even clean the house the day before I came back after being gone for 3 months!!

My opinion is that the people who are into ripping you off for too much money, also do the least work, as they are willing to rip you off any and every way.

[torrenova]

Bt600 is not the "going rate" in Jomtien. I live in Jomtien and could easily get a maid for Bt200. However, how lazy can you be to need a maid ?

Work out though what you want her to do ? You need to do this because some of them have a tendency to do next to nothing.

[Glauka]

I agree once a week and for the payment.....

Think in this way How much would you like to be paid to clean someone else dirt? There are many people who thinks that their own dirt is not so disgusting...well they are wrong...it is always disgusting to clean someone else toilet, hairs...etc,

I have been a cleaner while i was doing my degree...

There are lots of more disgusting jobs. I think you have to be business minded about such things and not get into a guilt trip. Nobody made you do cleaning, you decided it was a good option for you at the time. And I have met professional cleaners who enjoy the work because it is not stressful.

Well that´s quite true i choose to do this kind of job because it was the only one which i allowed me to choose my own time table...but cleaning does not mean that you have to forget all about it. I mean it is ok to do the beds, do the hoovering, cleaning the bathroom...but there are some personal stuff that it should be cleaned by oneself ( i am not going to get into any detail) and not let anyone to clean it whatever how much you pay.

I agree there are most disgunting jobs but i have not done any of them and we are not talking about them either. Anyway I am talking about my own experience.

Also i would like to add that cleaning job is not so highly paid because lots of people think that they know how to clean so why to pay so much for such an easy job ¿?. Jingthink talks about profesional cleaners but not so many people think in that way that´s why the pay rate it so low. But we should think about how much time you are saving for you to enjoy other things, thanks to these people job.

also as the OP say he firstly has found someone who he can trust...well this is quite valuable because it is not easy to find people who will really do this kind of job nicely...some of them are really fed up and do not care anymore...

[Jingthing]

Yep, its worth money to me and I value the service. The question is how much, eh?

I have talked to some friends in the US and they tell me 600 baht for 2 or 3 hours is about the same you would pay a cleaner (admittedly probably an illegal alien) in the US. Weak dollar or not, I agree that is too much to pay in Thailand.

[MTW]

Glauka- I don't think you are really being helpful here re your views about being a cleaning person since you come from a first world society, although maybe not as advanced as every first world nation. YOU didn't like being a cleaning woman, understandable since you said you did this when you were a student and didn't have other good jobs available, and now apparently you do have more options.

Have you ever lived in Thailand? Or a similar country? I do not believe that women are second class citizens but the reality in Thailand is that many good, nice, honest woman do house cleaning because the other choice for them where they could make better money, is either not available (due to their age and looks and maybe married already, or divorced already and raising children alone) OR most likely because of their values, that they would like to stay "nice Thai women" and not participate in the sex industury.

Maybe you felt you were doing work that was beneath you, but these woman may not feel that way. Maybe they feel that selling their bodies is beneath them, and that would be their only good option for making big money. Or just more money.

I think you really cannot comment here about what Thai women decide to do with their lives as you have not been raised in this culture or with the limited choices woman have here. I would much rather be a maid than be a hooker. Lucky for me I never had to decide between the two as I had more options. But that doesn't mean that I was always rich. I worked hard, made choices that I thought would get me a better future, and when I was young I could have made more money as a cocktail waitress, or many other jobs, but those jobs would not have gotten me anywhere in the future.

You are taking this personally as you obviously didn't enjoy your job. But look where you are now. Did you achieve what you wanted? I'm sorry you hated cleaning for other people. Maybe you should have made a different choice if you are still feeling angry about it. But that does not change the facts of life in Thailand for women.

[Ulysses G.]

Yep, its worth money to me and I value the service. The question is how much, eh?

I have talked to some friends in the US and they tell me 600 baht for 2 or 3 hours is about the same you would pay a cleaner (admittedly probably an illegal alien) in the US. Weak dollar or not, I agree that is too much to pay in Thailand.

I would rather clean MYSELF than pay someone 600 baht for cleaning 2 hours in Thailand.

200 haht for 3 hours is more than fair.

[Naam]

Sounds like the 600 Baht is for a full day visit which I think is too much..

i second that opinion. besides our live-in maid we use since more than one year the professional services of a cleaning company (Pattaya) one day per week which charges 500 Baht plus VAT per day. fee includes all necessary "tools" and cleaning agents. the maid is dropped at our home at 08.30 and picked up at 17.30. by the way, we are very happy with the service.