Anyone have a Thai teenager working?

[mal129]

I know many Thai teenagers have informal jobs working for family members or friends, but does anyone have a teenager (16 years old+) working at say, 711, a retail store in the mall, or a coffee shop like Black Canyon?
  
What is your experience with it? 

[rct99q]

My son was working at a car care place, but he has not had any hours in about a month due to covid. Business is slow.

 

He applied at Makro, Tesco and a few others but was not 18 at the time.

In general he is a lazy <deleted> so not surprised he has not found a proper job.

[1FinickyOne]

when she does the dishes, that's good enough for me... 

[Bob12345]

You mean working at one of these places as the start of a "career", or part-time working to learn responsibilities and the value of money?

 

(Different expectations in both settings and therefore different experiences)

[Gandtee]

1 hour ago, rct99q said:

My son was working at a car care place, but he has not had any hours in about a month due to covid. Business is slow.

 

He applied at Makro, Tesco and a few others but was not 18 at the time.

In general he is a lazy <deleted> so not surprised he has not found a proper job.

Mine is twenty and has studied up till now, all credit to him. He starts a good job next week and sooner the better. At home he is as much use as a one legged man in an <deleted> kicking contest. and my wife mollycoddles him.????

[J Town]

The place I take my motorbike to get washed has several boys working there that look to be around 14.

[AgMech Cowboy]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

when she does the dishes, that's good enough for me... 

My 'bar' is on about the same level. I'd love to see him pick up his cloths, towels off the bath room floor and turn off the lights & A/C when not in the room.

[Gandtee]

33 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

Mine is twenty and has studied up till now, all credit to him. He starts a good job next week and sooner the better. At home he is as much use as a one legged man in an <deleted> kicking contest. and my wife mollycoddles him.????

But he has taught himself to play the guitar which I like and will miss.???? It takes me back to England with my two sons,. Now in their 60s. and parents of my grandchildren. They began to irk me when they were in their late teens and again, their mother wiping their backsides for them. Maybe it's when the time comes for them to fly or be ejected from the nest. but then maybe because I'm a miserable old f**t.  Lots of maybe's????

[markeewan]

Young fellah worked for one of those small Tesco Lotus shops, like a 7-11, after school mainly for 4-5 hours or so, up until last year.

 

It was good experience for him as it was his first real exposure to a workplace and the sorts of behaviours and rules that a bigger company provides.

 

Pay was around 50 baht per hour and he has now found he can get much more by selling graphic design services on the internet and it is less hours so doesn't interfere with his schoolwork as much, so he doesn't work there anymore. 

 

Overall he enjoyed the experience, but then he was part time/casual and any first job can seem exciting when you are young.

[Gandtee]

2 minutes ago, markeewan said:

Young fellah worked for one of those small Tesco Lotus shops, like a 7-11, after school mainly for 4-5 hours or so, up until last year.

 

It was good experience for him as it was his first real exposure to a workplace and the sorts of behaviours and rules that a bigger company provides.

 

Pay was around 50 baht per hour and he has now found he can get much more by selling graphic design services on the internet and it is less hours so doesn't interfere with his schoolwork as much, so he doesn't work there anymore. 

 

Overall he enjoyed the experience, but then he was part time/casual and any first job can seem exciting when you are young.

It's all good experience.

[RichardColeman]

Only teenager I know is my wife's best friend's son. He spends more time in re-hab and prison than actually looking for work.

 

Also, with some jobs in Thailand you have to be over a certain height, KFC a while back said you had to be over 5ft 8 to work there - loads of young Thais are not that tall and even being blocked from work in malls and retail

[OneMoreFarang]

36 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Only teenager I know is my wife's best friend's son. He spends more time in re-hab and prison than actually looking for work.

 

Also, with some jobs in Thailand you have to be over a certain height, KFC a while back said you had to be over 5ft 8 to work there - loads of young Thais are not that tall and even being blocked from work in malls and retail

Some shops have definitely unrealistic or useless requirements.

I.e. a coffee shop chain wants people with at least 12 years of school. And then some of the people behind the counter didn't even unterstand basic English. I am sure many bar girls would be able to put some pastries in a bag. But no, you can't work here, you don't have the certificate... 

[BE88]

My wife's son, 19, found it too hard to go to work in 7 / eleven so he didn't submit his application then found it too difficult to go to study at the university and in any case went unwillingly after his technical school, between two years or more when it ends you will find it too difficult to go to work.

[jvs]

1 hour ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

My 'bar' is on about the same level. I'd love to see him pick up his cloths, towels off the bath room floor and turn off the lights & A/C when not in the room.

Give him the money for an average months energy bill and tell him to pay it from now on.

He will soon learn hat using less energy will put money in his pocket.

He will be keep an eye on you and make sure you turn off the lights!

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... crikey.... next thing teenagers will be actually getting up to press the on/off on the TV(shudder)

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

My 'bar' is on about the same level. I'd love to see him pick up his cloths, towels off the bath room floor and turn off the lights & A/C when not in the room.

my kid takes care of her clothes, even irons them for school... I don't think they learn about electric until they have to pay the bill... though she has mentioned living off the grid...

[Knocker33]

Is this a trick question?

[thailand49]

Normally you must be 18 years basically graduated with a certificate from High School to obtain a job at 7/11, Big C, Tesco,  If they are working prior to that age it is usually someone they know family etc. 

[khunPer]

I've had some Thai teens working in the house, live-in maids, they were all doing a fine job and never lazy...???? - I don't have much experience the other way round, as my own teen seems to appear too hi-so for boring work as student trainee in Lotus's or like; she'll rather work with something of huge interest, which is not available at the moment due to Covid, or start her own business and become rich...????

[bbko]

I don't get it, doesn't having a lazy son/daughter reflect on the mother and father raising their kid that way?

My luk kreung son is 14 and my wife and I make sure he does his fair share of chores around the house/garden and we he has a break in school some of his off time is spent working between his grandparent's farm and restaurant. I'm already planning for him to work part time when he gets around 16-18, just to learn responsibility and see what's its like to work for other than the grandparents. 

[GinBoy2]

17 hours ago, Gandtee said:

Mine is twenty and has studied up till now, all credit to him. He starts a good job next week and sooner the better. At home he is as much use as a one legged man in an <deleted> kicking contest. and my wife mollycoddles him.????

Welcome to the world of teenagers.

 

Up until my son went to college in the US, and subsequently turned into a hard working guy, he was so infuriating.

 

I'm sure that he figured out in his very smart head that if he made a pigs ear of simple things like cutting the grass enough times, I'd cave and just do it myself

 

Then again, thinking back many decades, I seem to recall driving my Dad crazy in a very similar fashion!

[gk10012001]

16 hours ago, Gandtee said:

It's all good experience.

Yep and meeting other people of same or different ages. Online is fine for some things, but socially not often helpful in the real world

[tonray]

I taught high school here for two years and one thing I learned is Thai teenagers are much more like western teenagers than Thai adults are like western adults. Some were dedicated and hardworking and some just lazy, have to check their pulse to see if they are alive lazy.

 

Three students stand out, the first a boy who was always late for class but was too proud to tell anyone he was helping his mom set up her drink cart every morning before he came to school to makje sure she could earn a decent income to keep him there, another girl who worked at some local places around the school and saved every baht to give to her father so he could repair his  truck. The third a girl who worked for some food vendors outside of the school gates after school to help her family out....three shining stars. Miss some of those kids for sure.

[brianthainess]

17 hours ago, jvs said:

Give him the money for an average months energy bill and tell him to pay it from now on.

He will soon learn hat using less energy will put money in his pocket.

He will be keep an eye on you and make sure you turn off the lights!

You will more likely find your power cut off for him not paying the bill.

[steven100]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Some shops have definitely unrealistic or useless requirements.

I.e. a coffee shop chain wants people with at least 12 years of school. And then some of the people behind the counter didn't even unterstand basic English. I am sure many bar girls would be able to put some pastries in a bag. But no, you can't work here, you don't have the certificate... 

well, as much as I partly agree .....   it's much much harder in Australia for a teenager to get even part-time work,  the hoops and certificates and clearances and tickets and courses .....  and the lists goes on,   and this is all needed for a 10 hr a week job cleaning a window, it's a joke ( unbelievable what's needed now )  

and yes, I go for a coffee at the air-con coffee shop up the road and the two girls can't speak one word of english. 

I really feel for the young guys these days ....

[brianthainess]

My wife's kids are hard working, the daughter has worked for Starbucks since a teenager she is now 24yr, and even got a mortgage from the bank, after being left to bring up her 2yr old son alone, she shares the house with her brother now 20yr old, but has worked for The Pizza Company since a teen, they both work in the same Mall, he still goes to 'school' comes home, very finicky about his clothes, irons them, cleans his shoes every day before starting work and school, he is also very good helping out with his young nephew  ????.  They had a Muslim upbringing but sadly their dad died when they were young, I think if your parents have/had a good work ethic and learn the value of a wage then it will continue with the kids. We live 5 hours away so visits are few and far between.

[OneMoreFarang]

19 minutes ago, steven100 said:

well, as much as I partly agree .....   it's much much harder in Australia for a teenager to get even part-time work,  the hoops and certificates and clearances and tickets and courses .....  and the lists goes on,   and this is all needed for a 10 hr a week job cleaning a window, it's a joke ( unbelievable what's needed now )  

That reminds me of a story from Germany from a couple of years ago.

Someone had the idea of letting Germans hire girls in sexy clothes to clean the windows. It seems lots of people were interested in that service. But then the professional window cleaners complained. Because there is a certified job "window cleaner" in Germany. And if people are not certified for that then they are not allowed to perform such services professionally.

What was the solution: Later the girls were hired to clean window frames but not the windows themselves. It seems that was legal.

It's a true story, have no idea if those services still exist over there.

 

[Hanuman2547]

When my two luk krueng sons were in the USA attending university they each got part time jobs as servers at Thai restaurants prior to their freshman year.  It worked out pretty well for them and they learned a lot about hard work and working with at times, difficult people.  

[b17]

My brother in law has two university graduates living at home with him and his wife - one is a fully qualified & licensed  pharmacist, the other has a degree in Commerce and Economics. Both unemployed due to Covid, both playing games until 4am every night, and both getting to live this lifestyle without a peep from their 'pay-rents'. They aren't expected to lift a finger to help with anything at home, a fact that drives me insane, as they often come to our nearby house to check out what's interesting in our fridge or to cook gourmet meals for themselves at late and most fashionable times. My objections seem to fall on deaf ears for reasons too complicated for me to understand. 

I own an empty commercial building nearby and asked the unemployed pharmacist if he'd like to use it to set up a small business, - he looked at me like i was crazy. I even tried working out a funding arrangement on his behalf, but still no dice. 

If my brother in law and his wife are "normal' Thai parents, situations like this don't augur well for the future of the kIngdom. Rather than training their kids to accept responsibility, they seem to prefer to accept it all themselves. It's clear that they didn't anticipate an outcome like this, but here we are....

[GinBoy2]

I think to some extent it's the difficulty of getting real work for mid teens in Thailand that doesn't set them up well for later life.

 

From about 14 or so I had Saturday jobs and jobs through the summer vacation, stocking supermarket shelves, picking fruit, delivering newspapers, and my worst final summer High School job, cleaning up at a chicken processing factory.

 

But it taught me to work, and to work hard at whatever I had to do.

 

That option doesn't seem really available to Thai teenagers, I tried with my son, and those options that Westerners, well in the US at least, and I think the same is true in Europe & OZ, have just aren't there.

 

I work for an airline here in the US, and we have a bunch of 15 year old kids working through the summer as Skycaps.

Crappy job, I watched a poor little gal, probably 100lbs dripping wet pushing some 400lb guy in a wheelchair to his Gate. 

 

But she did it, and is learning an important life skill, work hard!