House Keeper In Chaing Mai

[bcboy5440]

Hello All

New to this forum, and I am interested in spending some extended time in Thailand and I am looking at Chaing Mai.

I spoke to a friend who was looking at retiring in Chaing Mai and he was saying that if you rent a place you should hire a Thai house keeper as they will pay off because they will get better prices and know where to go for things. Your life is easier and you do not have to hassle with cleaning, shopping, etc.... He was saying they will even give massages. He also states that they do not cost very much to hire and you are helping out the local people by hiring them.

I am from Canada and hiring a housekeeper is a foreign concept. The other thing I am wondering is he kidding me?

1) Is it advisable to hire a housekeeper or whatever you call it?

2) What would one expect to pay for this?

3) Do most foreigners do this?

4) Do they live in and what kind of housing do you need to supply?

5) In Canada I think you have to provide like a separate apartment, is that the case in Thailand?

5) How would one find a housekeeper?

6) Is it possible to find one that speaks English?

He was telling me that jobs are hard to find in Thailand and that this is often how a lady gets her start, is that true?

[slapout]

bc; You may want to arrive here, look around for accommodation, location, etc prior to asking for details on your questions. I will take a quick stab at short answers, although many others have much more experience than I do.

1. They are referred to as housekeeper, maid, girlfriend, squeeze, wife, better half, old lady,etc, hiring/allowance is probably better, initially, than most other arrangements.

2. Depends on extracurricular activities agreed upon, frequency, etc.

3. at some time in their life, normally

4. Again depends on prior mutual agreements.

5. Not necessary, depending answer to 2, but sometimes separate living arrangements are more agreeable

6. Once on the ground in CM you will find vast locations to look and put out feelers

7. Yes, most will have some command of English

What your friend said about 'this is often how a lady gets her start' is most definitely true. Let me be the first to welcome you as a newbie to CM forum.

[naboo]

They may save you a bit of money by knowing where to go, but then you lose all the fun of finding out where to go to get things.

I prefer to get someone in to do my cleaning, twice a week for two hours a time. I pay her 400 Baht a week, works out at 100Baht an hour. Probably more than I need to pay, but she does a dam_n good job, cleans the house, washes and irons my clothes, makes my bed, empties the bin, sorts the garden out. If I wanted, I could sort her out to go and do my shopping, but I quite like a trip around the market buying some veg for the occassional meal at home. She's 55, I had a 23 year old on the same money, but she started stalking me.

Live in? I'll live with a Thai woman if I marry one, but not before.

[kudroz]

1) Is it advisable to hire a housekeeper or whatever you call it?

Of course, I've been in Thailand for more than 3 years now and have employed several maids.

2) What would one expect to pay for this?

Expect to pay from 4,500 to 6,000 THB per month for a maid. If she lives in the house (in her quarters) and eat your food, you can pay as low as 3,500 THB/m.

3) Do most foreigners do this?

Not only foreigners do this but it is very common for Thais to have a house staff to clean the house, drive cars and buy groceries.

Do they live in and what kind of housing do you need to supply?

If your house has an outside "maid room", you can ask her to live in there. You do not need to provide an AC, just a fan would be sufficient. Also just a slim mattress on the floor and a cheap TV with rabbit ears is plenty.

5) In Canada I think you have to provide like a separate apartment, is that the case in Thailand?

I've had maids in Canada, no live-ins though. You can either have your maid to work from 6AM to 6PM or provide her a room. Generally speaking the room will have to be accessible from outside and will have it's own toilet. You could always have her sleep-in a room in the house, but I would not advise it - You will lose your privacy. Most houses in Thailand will have a "maid room" that is accessible from outside.

5) How would one find a housekeeper?

I've had the best luck by asking the Mooban (village) security guards or administration for references. Also you could go ask your neighbor's maid or your neighbor directly and ask if they know anyone available.

6) Is it possible to find one that speaks English?

It's possible, but unlikely. Print a bunch of pictures of different things/tasks ex: "vacuum cleaner", "windows washing" and pictures of your favorite Thai foods. Then you can communicate with her like this at the beginning.

[naboo]

They may save you a bit of money by knowing where to go, but then you lose all the fun of finding out where to go to get things.

I prefer to get someone in to do my cleaning, twice a week for two hours a time. I pay her 400 Baht a week, works out at 100Baht an hour. Probably more than I need to pay, but she does a dam_n good job, cleans the house, washes and irons my clothes, makes my bed, empties the bin, sorts the garden out. If I wanted, I could sort her out to go and do my shopping, but I quite like a trip around the market buying some veg for the occassional meal at home. She's 55, I had a 23 year old on the same money, but she started stalking me.

Live in? I'll live with a Thai woman if I marry one, but not before.

This had me thinking, just spoke to the owner and he's offered me someone to clean the house and do the garden for 40 Baht an hour. Very cheap, but I guess that's about the going rate - 160B is the minimum daily wage.

[sassienie]

If you are a Farang, forget trying to employ a live in Nanny/housekeeper in Thailand, whether they are Thai or Burmese, it doesn’t work.

My wife and I decided to hire a live in lady housekeeper. Offering good wages, 9000 baht per month plus food, use of computer, days off etc.

The job involved some light house cleaning and looking after the home, 2 dogs if we stayed away for a few days.

So I advertised in the job centre at Mai Rim Chiang Mai and in a Chiang Mai local Thai newspaper.

My wife was receiving scores of phone calls per day as a result of the ads.

Women from ages 17 to 60 were phoning for the job, plus ladyboys, gays, and guys offering girls they have on their lists from 14 to 30. Also girls asking if they could bring their children, mother’s and siblings. When my wife told them they would be working for me, a Farang, than the situation changed. Many were asking up to 20000 baht per month for live in. The younger the woman, the higher the wages. None of them had any doable checkable backgrounds or references.

Some of them were really bar girls looking for an assignment because business is down in the town. Others were from poor backgrounds encouraged by their parents or boyfriends to apply for the job, plus educated girls from middleclass families seeking any Farang to support them in a lifestyle they are used to. Most only interested in short time work, although they understood I required someone here long term. It was a ploy to get a lot of money quickly from some gullible Farang.

After interviewing about 50, we took on 5 girls, one after the other, not together. All tried it on for money, the, my mother has had a motorbike accident, sick buffalo etc and when It became clear that I was not falling for this, they soon became bored. Most left on their own accord, the others I had to throw out. One girl, I asked to leave after I saw her throwing a large boulder at my dog. That was scary, she actually held a knife up to me and kept nagging for money, although she had already been paid her wages up to the time I wanted her to go. In the end I had to give her an extra 3000 baht so as to make her leave peacefully.

Also worth keeping in mind: I was advised by my brother in law, who is a Thai lawyer, that there is a scam in which some girls who have police contacts, could say that the Farang touched them and threaten to report this to the police unless a lot of money changes hands, plus some have diseases such as AIDs and TB.

Not worth the risk and hassle or if you do decide to take on one of these girls, ensure she is well recommended and has some sort of references.

Of course we are going to hear of some success stories, but at these times of economic crisis, taking a complete stranger into the home is a dangerous practise, especially if it involves caring for young children or pets.

[bcboy5440]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. So from these responses it seems like things are not a simple as they first were made to sound. I now have the feeling I am rather naive and need to aprise myself of the realities of living in this country. I am not familiar with the Thai girlfriend concept - What are you referring to is this somehow connected with a house keeper? Does this mean you hire this person or what is the relationship. It sounds a little confusing and pardon me for being so naieve.

So for you experienced in this city do you have any suggestions for a newbie? My situation is my wife recently left me, and my buddy said to me "You should go live in Thailand for a little while" A friend of his moved to Thailand and now works in Canada for 7 months, lives in Thailand for 5 months and his supposedly loves it. However my friend has the propensity to embellish at times, thus my foray to the online community to try and gain a realistic perspective.

As it stands I am thinking of going to Chiang Mai in December to March to miss the Canadian winter and to get a taste of life there.

I am concerned about the language barrier. I was in China and I really struggled with Mandarin, that tonal language is more than I can muster. I am hoping Thai is a little better.

Is there an expat community that is easy to access or connect with?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun BCBoy5440,

Not to worry, everyone here has been naive at least once; some of us still yearn for that state

Coming here in the time frame December - March : well, December is great, and the cool weather can last up until late in January, but February and March tend to be months of pollution hel_l here as well as being bloody hot (but it is dry heat compared to now). If there's any way you can change your stay here to say late October to mid January, I think you'll see all the best Chiang Mai has to offer including Awk Pansa (October full moon or thereabouts : the end of Vasa or three lunar cycle rains retreat where Monks stay at one temple and are engaged [theoretically] in intense religious practice), and then in the November full moon the wonderful festival of Loy Krathong (also known as Yi Peng), which, for me, is the very best of Chiang Mai.

Housekeeper : strongly suggest you don't hire anybody until you've been here a few months, that you don't have anybody come to your house or room to give you massages, etc. until you've been here a while.

Suggest you stay in a guest house or rental condo or something first, somewhere in town, don't enter into any long-term rental contracts, get used to Chiang Mai, make your our own connections in the extensive Farang community here (which TV is certainly one gateway for). Take a language class, try out a cooking class. Hopefully, along the way, you'll also find some Thai people that you will connect with and get to know.

Language barrier : I don't think you'll find this is a problem.

Well, you asked for advice, but as John Ruskin said : "the worst form of vice is advice."

regards, ~o:37;

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. So from these responses it seems like things are not a simple as they first were made to sound.

You'd do well to turn some people on 'ignore', it makes the general appearance of the forum a lot clearer and factual.

We typically get maids from a people-broker we know. Live-in around 3500 baht, or if it's someone who comes in a couple days a week then we pay 200 baht a day. Most are reasonably good, the current one is absolutely stunning at what she does.. She arranges stuff as if it's a 5 star hotel room. I'd gladly pay her 250 a day if the money issue ever comes up with her.

BTW, a Thai or Farang household makes no difference whatsoever, of course. Some of the people who post on this forum seem to be struggling through life, but I don't really care enough to go argue with them.

Edited June 11, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[cmjantje]

They may save you a bit of money by knowing where to go, but then you lose all the fun of finding out where to go to get things.

I prefer to get someone in to do my cleaning, twice a week for two hours a time. I pay her 400 Baht a week, works out at 100Baht an hour. Probably more than I need to pay, but she does a dam_n good job, cleans the house, washes and irons my clothes, makes my bed, empties the bin, sorts the garden out. If I wanted, I could sort her out to go and do my shopping, but I quite like a trip around the market buying some veg for the occassional meal at home. She's 55, I had a 23 year old on the same money, but she started stalking me.

Live in? I'll live with a Thai woman if I marry one, but not before.

Well mine must be very lazy! She is here two times per week a complete day, doing the same what you write. I pay her 300 baht per day plus an extra 1.000 per month for taking care of the garden. She is happy with the job and very happy with the money. She works for me already more than a year and even though I have a gf, she stays here and works. She is loyal.. most gf'nds are not.

[sassienie]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. So from these responses it seems like things are not a simple as they first were made to sound.

You'd do well to turn some people on 'ignore', it makes the general appearance of the forum a lot clearer and factual.

We typically get maids from a people-broker we know. Live-in around 3500 baht, or if it's someone who comes in a couple days a week then we pay 200 baht a day. Most are reasonably good, the current one is absolutely stunning at what she does.. She arranges stuff as if it's a 5 star hotel room. I'd gladly pay her 250 a day if the money issue ever comes up with her.

BTW, a Thai or Farang household makes no difference whatsoever, of course. Some of the people who post on this forum seem to be struggling through life, but I don't really care enough to go argue with them.

So you`ll pm the OP with all the details, right? And who is this people broker? I would be very interested and sure so would many others if this is a way to obtain a decent housekeeper.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Edited June 11, 2009 by sassienie

[kudroz]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. So from these responses it seems like things are not a simple as they first were made to sound. I now have the feeling I am rather naive and need to aprise myself of the realities of living in this country. I am not familiar with the Thai girlfriend concept - What are you referring to is this somehow connected with a house keeper? Does this mean you hire this person or what is the relationship. It sounds a little confusing and pardon me for being so naieve.

So for you experienced in this city do you have any suggestions for a newbie? My situation is my wife recently left me, and my buddy said to me "You should go live in Thailand for a little while" A friend of his moved to Thailand and now works in Canada for 7 months, lives in Thailand for 5 months and his supposedly loves it. However my friend has the propensity to embellish at times, thus my foray to the online community to try and gain a realistic perspective.

As it stands I am thinking of going to Chiang Mai in December to March to miss the Canadian winter and to get a taste of life there.

I am concerned about the language barrier. I was in China and I really struggled with Mandarin, that tonal language is more than I can muster. I am hoping Thai is a little better.

Is there an expat community that is easy to access or connect with?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You will be fine, Thailand is not like China or Japan - you have English writings and speaking people a bit everywhere. They aren't racist like in Japan and everyone will be happy to help you out. You could stay at Viangbua Mansion for a month or so. The staff speaks good English and they're very knowledgeable about the city. They can arrange for you to rent a motorbike, private taxis, tours and what not.

They also have Internet and small restaurant and prices are reasonable. When I moved to Chiang Mai, I stayed there for a 2 months and don't regret it. Check it out http://www.viangbua.com/

[IanForbes]

I am also a Canadian from BC that spends the winter in Chiang Mai. I love it despite its few problems. I find I don't need anything more than a nice hotel room with my own bathroom, TV, small fridge and air conditioning. I only needed the air con for March. If you stay long term you can get a nice place for between 5000 and 10,000 baht per month. My monthly bill averages about 6000 baht including electricity and internet. No need for a kitchen because eating in Thai cafes is just as cheap and much easier. However, it WOULD be different if you had a wife or girl friend living with you. The hotel have staff that do the cleaning.

As others have said, just try it out for a while and then decide what you need. There are lots of English speaking people in Chiang Mai, but not so many in the smaller cities and villages. This forum will provide you with all the information you need, as well as lots of weird entertainment. PM me if you want any further advice on where to go and what to do. But, the regular expats here know far more than me.

[Ajarn]

If you are a Farang, forget trying to employ a live in Nanny/housekeeper in Thailand, whether they are Thai or Burmese, it doesn’t work.

My wife and I decided to hire a live in lady housekeeper. Offering good wages, 9000 baht per month plus food, use of computer, days off etc.

The job involved some light house cleaning and looking after the home, 2 dogs if we stayed away for a few days.

So I advertised in the job centre at Mai Rim Chiang Mai and in a Chiang Mai local Thai newspaper.

My wife was receiving scores of phone calls per day as a result of the ads.

Women from ages 17 to 60 were phoning for the job, plus ladyboys, gays, and guys offering girls they have on their lists from 14 to 30. Also girls asking if they could bring their children, mother’s and siblings. When my wife told them they would be working for me, a Farang, than the situation changed. Many were asking up to 20000 baht per month for live in. The younger the woman, the higher the wages. None of them had any doable checkable backgrounds or references.

Some of them were really bar girls looking for an assignment because business is down in the town. Others were from poor backgrounds encouraged by their parents or boyfriends to apply for the job, plus educated girls from middleclass families seeking any Farang to support them in a lifestyle they are used to. Most only interested in short time work, although they understood I required someone here long term. It was a ploy to get a lot of money quickly from some gullible Farang.

After interviewing about 50, we took on 5 girls, one after the other, not together. All tried it on for money, the, my mother has had a motorbike accident, sick buffalo etc and when It became clear that I was not falling for this, they soon became bored. Most left on their own accord, the others I had to throw out. One girl, I asked to leave after I saw her throwing a large boulder at my dog. That was scary, she actually held a knife up to me and kept nagging for money, although she had already been paid her wages up to the time I wanted her to go. In the end I had to give her an extra 3000 baht so as to make her leave peacefully.

Also worth keeping in mind: I was advised by my brother in law, who is a Thai lawyer, that there is a scam in which some girls who have police contacts, could say that the Farang touched them and threaten to report this to the police unless a lot of money changes hands, plus some have diseases such as AIDs and TB.

Not worth the risk and hassle or if you do decide to take on one of these girls, ensure she is well recommended and has some sort of references.

Of course we are going to hear of some success stories, but at these times of economic crisis, taking a complete stranger into the home is a dangerous practise, especially if it involves caring for young children or pets.

Sounds like a made-up story to me... I have lived here for 25 years, have always had live-in help, and never had any of the weird experiences one guy quotes from the only time he has advertised for a maid...

Edited June 11, 2009 by Ajarn

[Ulysses G.]

I have never had any problem either.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

it makes me wonder if SASSIE had all the problems because he offered way too much money for the job....

Edited June 12, 2009 by uptoyoumyfriend

[Ajarn]

it makes me wonder if SASSIE had all the problems because he offered way too much money for the job....

I'm sure that is not the problem. I pay my live-in 10,000 baht per month, and she earns it.

[kudroz]

it makes me wonder if SASSIE had all the problems because he offered way too much money for the job....

I'm sure that is not the problem. I pay my live-in 10,000 baht per month, and she earns it.

That's a lot. A Bachelor Degree graduate from Payap who speaks English gets paid not more than THB9,000 when working at Index Living Mall. You are generous :-)

[Ajarn]

it makes me wonder if SASSIE had all the problems because he offered way too much money for the job....

I'm sure that is not the problem. I pay my live-in 10,000 baht per month, and she earns it.

That's a lot. A Bachelor Degree graduate from Payap who speaks English gets paid not more than THB9,000 when working at Index Living Mall. You are generous :-)

You can't compare the two. I don't think it is too much, and I am doing the paying

[sassienie]

it makes me wonder if SASSIE had all the problems because he offered way too much money for the job....

Mr SASSIE to you, please.

And as for another poster`s comment that 10000 baht a month is more pay than a A Bachelor Degree graduate earns, the two cannot be compared.

Because a live in housekeeper is actually giving up her freedom, where as a day worker has the choice of going home after work.

[Ulysses G.]

I am one of those people who purposely "pay too much" and all I can say is that it has done a lot more good than harm. If someone does a better than usual job, reward them for it!

[Nienke]

You can become a member of the CCMC classifieds. See for info: http://www.chiangmaiexpatsclub.com/cmcc.asp

Often there are ads of people who are leaving and recommend their maid or gardener.