Thai Maid’s Salary

[bendix]

Minimum salary my arse.

It might be ok to have labourers building condos at minimum salary, or kids in fast food joints. But when it comes to having someone who is spending a lot of time in my environment, in my home, surrounded by and given responsibility for caring for my things, then I want to do a bit better than minimum salary.

A maid is as much a personal relationship as it is a employer / employee relationship

[jonniebkk]

Minimum salary my arse.

It might be ok to have labourers building condos at minimum salary, or kids in fast food joints. But when it comes to having someone who is spending a lot of time in my environment, in my home, surrounded by and given responsibility for caring for my things, then I want to do a bit better than minimum salary.

A maid is as much a personal relationship as it is a employer / employee relationship

Like we have already said, those that post silly information about comparing maid salaries (for expatriates) to what minimum wages are only show that they have in fact never employed house-hold staff. Many people who have never done so probably think they are similar to say a hotel maid and that the salaries should be commensurable. Not!!!

It is a free market and everyone can set their own salary level and see who applies for the job. As for me, I like having someone who is trustworthy, relatively happy and pleasant in their work (satisfied with their working conditions and remuneration), healthy (that they are not so destitute that they cannot afford to visit a clinic or buy basic medicines when they are sick) so they are not spreading diseases around my household, and who I don't have to watch like a hawk every minute of the day (and even leave on their own) because they are so poor they will be tempted to pinch my silverware.

[AFKAFSinLOS]

Minimum salary my arse.

It might be ok to have labourers building condos at minimum salary, or kids in fast food joints. But when it comes to having someone who is spending a lot of time in my environment, in my home, surrounded by and given responsibility for caring for my things, then I want to do a bit better than minimum salary.

A maid is as much a personal relationship as it is a employer / employee relationship

Like we have already said, those that post silly information about comparing maid salaries (for expatriates) to what minimum wages are only show that they have in fact never employed house-hold staff. Many people who have never done so probably think they are similar to say a hotel maid and that the salaries should be commensurable. Not!!!

It is a free market and everyone can set their own salary level and see who applies for the job. As for me, I like having someone who is trustworthy, relatively happy and pleasant in their work (satisfied with their working conditions and remuneration), healthy (that they are not so destitute that they cannot afford to visit a clinic or buy basic medicines when they are sick) so they are not spreading diseases around my household, and who I don't have to watch like a hawk every minute of the day (and even leave on their own) because they are so poor they will be tempted to pinch my silverware.

Perhaps reread the wording a little more closer. I would have thought a legal type like Mr.Bendix would have more attuned.

I said it was a "benchmark". Not the amount to be paid, but a reference point. It also gave a floor/minimum, which no-one else pointed out. Somewhere out there by implication is there a maximum...

"Pay more, but not excessively more". For a live in maid 194 baht x 30 days is almost THB 6,000/month. I also mentioned THB 10,000 as per OP is "not excessive" and "reasonably generous/fair" in my view. Degrees of interpretation gentlemen. Perhaps rather than looking at bottoms, now we have established a minimum, consideration of what excessive means might have been a more constructive comment.

If you want someone who mainly cleans and tidies, check out what companies like PCS pay their staff again as a benchmark!

Have had several maids in my time in Thailand and throughout Asia, as have expat friends throughout Asia. Salary is not necessarily the most important factor in success. Expat approach is also often different to Thai approach. There's actually a very happy and successful medium to be found.

Think a little further also. My post was perhas misinterpreted in what I intended and how it was received. Are you doing the same when paying your maid. You have your expat intentions and thoughts. But is that the way the maid receives and interprets them. The maid's interpretation is actually more important in this scenario than the farang's intention

Edited April 23, 2008 by AFKAFSinLOS

[AFKAFSinLOS]

....The maid gets ...half a baht of gold as a gift at Songkran....

...The gold is an especially nice touch...glad I never thought of it

...

A maid is as much a personal relationship as it is a employer / employee relationship

..

Treating her similar to a "mia noi" by giving gold... Interesting retention policy. Perhaps reconsider those "baths" in stead of baht

[soundman]

One thing I have noticed about domestic staff and general labour is that if you pay them too much, they get lazy & develop attitudes & aversions to certain types of work. If they are pre-disposed to being dis-honest, it doesn't matter ow much you pay them, they will still steal.

Soundman.

[jonniebkk]

If you want someone who mainly cleans and tidies, check out what companies like PCS pay their staff again as a benchmark!

Your points are all well taken and certainly valid up to a point. And nobody is advocating overpaying or that paying a good salary will deter a dishonest person from stealing. For the type of household services the op described, what she was paying, while certainly more than what some Thai's or outside cleaning contractors might pay their employees for similar work, was not excessive.

It all depends on what type of services you require. If all you need is someone to come in and clean, wash, and iron, then you are looking at very unskilled labour. If you plan to be there the entire time she is present each and every time she works, then honesty is not even too much of a factor. You can price accordingly...this type of person would be akin to a PCS type cleaner.

If, however, you want someone with some language, shopping, serving, cooking, childrearing along with cleaning skills, then the PCS benchmark is not too relevant as the job descriptions are not comparable.

[AFKAFSinLOS]

Johnniebkk

Would pretty much agree. I think the term you're looking for is "horses for courses"

Just don't ride the maid.

[tb86]

8k for maid, plus meals, housing, bonuses, travel with us....

10k for driver

Edited June 1, 2008 by tb86

[Misty]

Salary aside, what happens about health/medical?

We are interviewing maids at the moment and one asked if we would "pay for doctor", which is what her previous employer did.

What is the norm in terms of medical expenses? This is the first time we have employed a maid, so it's a bit hard to figure out all the various issues. Should the employer pay some kind of contributions, or...?

For info, we are looking at a starting wage of 8k, not including food etc.

Any advice would be really welcome, as this is the candidate we liked the most so far...

Thanks in advance

We contribute to the Thai social security system on our maid's behalf, so our maid see a doctor under that system. My guess is this is not the norm, however.

[hanibal7]

I am very interested in why people want a maid.is it because both of you work long hours,or is it a farang on his own who cannot do the chores or works long hours.maybe you are bone idle,no criticism intended.

is there anybody outside bangkok who has a maid,now that would be interesting.

[Naam]

I am very interested in why people want a maid.is it because both of you work long hours,or is it a farang on his own who cannot do the chores or works long hours.maybe you are bone idle,no criticism intended.

is there anybody outside bangkok who has a maid,now that would be interesting.

i am -and of course my wife is- interested why people would NOT want a maid. yes we live outside Bangkok, none of us has long working hours as i am retired (my wife never worked). and no we are neither bone idle nor bored but busy from morning till evening and still enjoy very much having a maid. fact is that we enjoyed having maid(s), driver(s) and gardener(s) -in olden times plural- since several decades.

next interesting question please, e.g how much caviar do i eat on a weekend and how much (in Zimbabwe Dollars) is one of the Habanas i smoke once in a while?

[hanibal7]

Naam i dont think i want to continue this post.

have a great idle life

[Naam]

Naam i dont think i want to continue this post. have a great idle life

what part of "we are neither bone idle nor bored but busy" is it that you don't understand Hanibal?

[Peterpan]

Naam i dont think i want to continue this post. have a great idle life

what part of "we are neither bone idle nor bored but busy" is it that you don't understand Hanibal?

Totally Agreed on that one Naam, I work 28 on 28 off in a crap isolated place, now why would I want to do all the chores at home when I come back.

I can have a very good house keeper looking after my home even when Im away 6 days a week and does everything.

Takes care of the dogs, kicks the gardeners arse for not doing it right.

To me putting some money back in the local community is all so a good thing anyway.

[webtv]

I pay our office maid 3,500 per month.. She works about 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, but also does the washing (at her home) for 2 staff in that price per month.

great attention to detail and worth it IMO.

[thaiphoon]

1 post has been removed. Please do not cross-post across multiple forums. We can move your original post for better response if required. Thx.

[samran]

just refreshing to see an old thread where Bendix has posted. Miss his wit...

[ronaldjp]

We pay our maid 6500 per month. Lives in her own room separate from house, has her own bathroom. We give her 500/week for food and pay her Social security. We never gave her set working hours and told her to set them herself....she gets up early and loves to potter around in the garden, cleans the house etc...after we leave for the office and goes to bed at 9pm after serving dinner. During the day she rests several times. We are not too concerned about the working hours as long as the house is kept clean and although we give her Sunday off she rarely takes it. She can vacation in her province whenever she wants to but never abuses that either. She is in her late 50s.

[ExpatJ]

Driver 12,000 (he's always on time, never missed a day in 1 year) , 2 nannys/maids 13,000 each (one live in).

And yet my wife still complains she has too much house work!!!

[leo12345]

When you say she lives outside of your house, do you mean in maids quarters, or elsewhere.

If she is living on-site, and from your description of her duties, you are being more than generous.

My friend employs 3 staff in Pattaya in his internet business. They work 7 hrs a day, 6 days a week for 6,000 per month. I would class these as skilled workers compared to a maid, and they have to pay for their own accomodation. And this is not in some village in the boonies, but in Pattaya.

A bit more detail: we're in the Sukhumvit area. She lives off-site, with her daughters who are employed elsewhere. She speaks no English.

I'm told that Bangkok-based expats often pay much more then this. Maybe they're paying for English-language capability? Or just paying a very generous wage?

Alot of house aid like to work in the Sukhumvit area. Burmese and Thai.

They like it because Expats know the salaries abroad and tend to over pay them here due to feeling sorry.

They also know that with Expats they will not have to work hard.

I know Thai people with nannies and maids that live in and have all meals provided and they only get 6000 - 9000 max with no bonus.

We have been looking for quite a while now and offer 10,000 but wen they know my wife is Thai, they decline and say they only want to be working with Expats.

I have intervied over 20 applicants and brought home a few and they are terrible.

[leo12345]

I am very interested in why people want a maid.is it because both of you work long hours,or is it a farang on his own who cannot do the chores or works long hours.maybe you are bone idle,no criticism intended.

is there anybody outside bangkok who has a maid,now that would be interesting.

Actually many people need a maid.

I drive into BKK every day, my wife is at home with a new born and a 2yr old.

We need assistance @ home and there is nothing wrong with that.

We do not want to call the family every time for help as they have a life and we like our privacy.