Hello everyone, my wife has lost her 2 nannies/maids in quick succession and she is desperate to find some help. She is not local or Thai, and therefore her contacts are limited. I am in the UK at the moment myself. What would you advise for finding a trustworthy maid/nanny (or two).

The first thing I would advise is don’t lose them.

 

Your wife is probably doing something wrong.

 

Pay them more than anyone else and treat them like family, don’t expect them to be slaves and respect boundaries.

 

In 12 years I only had 2 maids, the second is the daughter in-law of the first, who retired back to her village.

1 hour ago, Pavlos said:

What would you advise for finding a trustworthy maid/nanny (or two).

 

Immediate solution: use an agency.

 

Recently I moved to a new area and needed to find a new maid.

Hired from an agency in Chiang Mai with excellent results.

(Excellent, not cheap.)

 

In the past I've used agencies for maids, with generally good results.

If the first maid they send does not work out (for any reason),

the agency will immediately send someone else.

No need to spend your time or effort hunting for a replacement, interviewing, getting references, etc.

 

The agency will also provide basic translation service as part of their service.

If your wife does not speak or understand Thai, that may not matter anyway if the nannie/maid is Burmese or Hill Tribe or Lao.

The agency can provide basic language help for both sides.

 

I simply searched on the Internet and I interviewed the agency, not the maids.

First agency I contacted was vague, poorly organized, made all kinds of promises.

And spoke (on the phone) with an Indian/Pakistani accent.

So I searched for a different agency.

Found one that was helpful, realistic, organized.

The maid they sent was excellent, and I've requested her to come back again four times already with another reservation for next week.

Lesson learned: Interview the agency.

 

Finally: price discovery.

I'm paying the agency 220/baht per hour: 880 baht for 1/2 day.

That's for maid service.  (Nannie, I don't know).

Maid told me that the agency takes 20%.

Which tells us that (in this case) an excellent maid expects to

take home in the vicinity of 175/hour.

 

I hope you'll report back here with your results.

30 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

Your wife is probably doing something wrong.

Got to fix that first otherwise you will just continue losing then again and again and again.

 

Try the agents.

3 minutes ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Immediate solution: use an agency.

 

Recently I moved to a new area and needed to find a new maid.

Hired from an agency in Chiang Mai with excellent results.

(Excellent, not cheap.)

 

In the past I've used agencies for maids, with generally good results.

If the first maid they send does not work out (for any reason),

the agency will immediately send someone else.

No need to spend your time or effort hunting for a replacement, interviewing, getting references, etc.

 

The agency will also provide basic translation service as part of their service.

If your wife does not speak or understand Thai, that may not matter anyway if the nannie/maid is Burmese or Hill Tribe or Lao.

The agency can provide basic language help for both sides.

 

I simply searched on the Internet and I interviewed the agency, not the maids.

First agency I contacted was vague, poorly organized, made all kinds of promises.

And spoke (on the phone) with an Indian/Pakistani accent.

So I searched for a different agency.

Found one that was helpful, realistic, organized.

The maid they sent was excellent, and I've requested her to come back again four times already with another reservation for next week.

Lesson learned: Interview the agency.

 

Finally: price discovery.

I'm paying the agency 220/baht per hour: 880 baht for 1/2 day.

That's for maid service.  (Nannie, I don't know).

Maid told me that the agency takes 20%.

Which tells us that (in this case) an excellent maid expects to

take home in the vicinity of 175/hour.

 

I hope you'll report back here with your results.

That is all about short time work.  Full time is very different as is live in.

 

I pay my live-in maid 2,800 baht per week, 560 baht per day for 6 hours per day.

 

If you want Nanny duties too, it's important you never ask for more than 8 hours work (inc. nannying) in a day or you will lose her.  Maid & Nanny are two different jobs, if you are going to combine them then it's important you don't expect too many hours from her.

17 hours ago, Pavlos said:

Hello everyone, my wife has lost her 2 nannies/maids in quick succession and she is desperate to find some help. She is not local or Thai, and therefore her contacts are limited.

This is as big a problem as losing the two. I have had the same housekeeper for 25 years now and she is like family. She came at 25 and we just celebrated her 50th on Thursday. She  is paid well, after all this time 15,000B a month. She lives here and enjoys doing our gardening as well. 

 

You really need speak with your wife and find out what happened, as it will happen again if it is on her.