Maid(S)

[corkman]

Hi all,

I was just wondering what your thoughts were on having a maid? To be honest, it is not something I had ever considered before, so I do not know what to think, expect, or otherwise!

The ma-ban in our mu-ban just mentioned the other that a "middle ages woman" of her aquantiance, from her home town (dunno where, outside Bkk), was looking for work as a maid. My wife just asked what type of money would be involved, to which the ma-ban replied "up to really, what ever you think is appropriate". I woldn't know where to start - I believe in a fair days pay for a fair days work ...... but I would imagine that as with any profession there are differing levels of experience and skills, and hence differing "fair" pay grades. I'm not tight, but I like to get good value, and to that end if it is something we want to entertain I'd like to know or at least have an idea abotu what to expect from her, and what to expect to pay.

That opens up the idea of having a maid - so I am not just thinking of this lady that was sugested to us, but also further afield to anyone. Suggestions and your expeirences in this field would b appreciated.

We don't have a huge house (300+ sq.m) - its in the outskirts.

Many thanks for your input.

[ma91c1an]

It would depend, I would think, upon your standard of living, and on a couple of other factors.

1. Are you considering a live-in maid?

2. Or, are you considering a maid who comes in daily for a few hours, or for a few hours on various days?

3. Rates for a Thai maid will be higher than you will pay for a maid who may be in the Kingdom illegally. Regardless of other advice that you may receive, I do not recommend employing an illegal alien. Pay a bit more and hire a maid who has a valid Thai ID card, or an alien with permission to work in the Kingdom.

Generally, the appropriate rate for a live-in maid will run between 7-9000 baht a month. You will set the hours, and the standards of work that must be met. I get the subjective impression from the way that you phrase your query that you will be a much easier boss than most Thai families with maids. It is up to you whether your live-in maid works seven days a week, with one or two days a month off, as is customary, or whether you permit your maid one day off a week, or more.

There are some considerations that may factor into your decision-making. If you hire a maid through a service, you will be charged much more. You will, however, have the benefit of a firm to whom you can seek redress in the event that your maid engages in theft, does not work appropriately, or otherwise does not satisfy your requirements. I have seen rates around 15,000 baht a month for maids from such services.

If you are hiring a maid that is referred by a neighbor or other associate, you may not have the same recourse. Maids are human, they are often under financial pressures, and they can suddenly vanish with your valuables. In my own case, I hired a maid through a service, and I was more or less satisfied, as the firm would send two maids for a few hours every day. I might not get the same two maids every day, but I always had two maids, they did their work well, and then they were out of my hair quickly. On one occasion, however, one of the maids slipped money from my wallet, and engaged in inappropriate behavior with some of my wife's possessions.

I noticed the missing money almost immediately, and I called the owner of the firm, who came to my home directly. The maid denied the theft, but she was exposed by the other maid, who explained, in detail, precisely what the other maid had done. When confronted with further facts, the thief was still steadfast in denying wrongdoing, but crumpled once I made clear my intention to call the police. She produced the missing money on the spot. Her face looked exactly like wood. It was an amazing experience for me, actually.

The owner was shocked, and he pleaded with me to avoid any police entanglements. He offered compensation in multiple forms, which I declined. I did not blame him, and he was quite proactive, and he clearly was trying to mollify me. I told him that I had been made whole, but that the thief was no longer welcome to work in my home. I believe that he fired her, which saddened me, but I also believe that one reaps what one sows in this life, and not just the next. The next day, he sent over a very nice fruit basket, for which I was grateful. I really appreciated his gesture.

The other maid... well, the owner of the cleaning company ultimately decided to close his doors. He explained to me that it was just too much of a pain in the ass to find and to retain good maids, as they would come and go without regard to any commitments that they had made to him. His staffing requirements were hence impossible to manage. He also admitted that he really made no money, as he was running a legit business, paying taxes, and other requirements. I offered to keep the other maid, and he seemed to be relieved, as she really has proven to be a fine human being for as long as I have known her, which is about three years now.

So I now pay that maid, who now works for herself, and not for a firm, and she works very well for me. She has a couple of other houses that she also handles, so she comes in for four or five hours a day, which is adequate for my needs. She takes days off when she has family responsibilities to discharge, or on some holidays, but she does not expect to be paid for days when she does not work. At this point, we generally pay her around 5-6000 baht a month. I consider her a bargain at that rate.

She cleans and mops daily, she dusts, she washes the clothes, irons, washes dishes, and generally picks up the place. I have no idea how large my home is, but it is not big. Two floors, two beds, two baths.

Sorry for the length of this. Hope that this helps.

[Grawburg]

"engaged in inappropriate behavior with some of my wife's possessions."

I want to ask, but I won't.

[BarnicaleBob]

We have a maid we found on our own. She works part time as a maid for a friend of ours and we asked her if she would like to work for us too. She has been working for us two days a week for five months now with no problems. In fact she is one of the hardest working persons I have ever seen in Thailand. We pay her 2,500 baht a month for her two day a week job.

BB

[oldmajor]

An old Lady that lived in a huge house not far from us, died. This freed up one of the 7 maids in that particular house. We had to wait a month before she started for us but has turned out to be a superstar. We has been with us 2 years now. She lives in, has weekends free and we pay her 8000 baht a month. Good Maids are worth taking care of. I had to let several go before for dishonesty and plain laziness.

[corkman]

Thank you all for you replies - particularly so MA91c1an for the depth of detail.

To be heonst, I feel a bit nervous / uneasy about hiring a maid. I have always felt this way about the idea, but now even more so since reading all your replies. We don't "need" a maid as such, my Mrs. doesn't work and is more or less happy to take care of things herself. I just thought it might free up a bit more time for her to concentrate of mothering and taking care of herself...... it might well have the oposite effect!!!

I think we'll let the idea go for the time being ..... see how we get on for another few months ..... and go from there.

Thank you all once again for your candure and honesty.

[kuffki]

Have had a maid for 7 years and have no idea what i would do without one.

Some hints to having good maid

- Take older lady

- Make sure you not attracted to her in any way what so ever

- During initial time, run some checks, ie leave out some money and see if its still there after she cleans

-Tip her every month, but not too much

-Be polite with her and she will do the same in return

[TigertheCat]

We have had maids over the 7 years we have lived here,some good,some bad and some totally unsuitable.

The older ladies are better as the youinger ones seem more lazy.

The last one we had even used to dig and tend the land besides cleaning and looking after the dogs.

We have a new one coming at the end of the month,our daughter-in-laws Mother has offered her services for 6000 per month,she owns a restaurant and so we will have good food.

We never paid more than 6000 before.

Good point above regarding not using illegals.

[Naam]

Good point above regarding not using illegals.

true! take lazy locals. let them rob you blind. give them once a month paid leave because #9 of the seventeen grandmothers or grandfathers has died. and once you completed to advance them the value of three months salary (the little brother needs a complicated operation, the sister's university fees are due, if gambling losses are not paid the worst has to be feared) and they disappear then thank Buddha for your blessing.

don't do what i (we) are doing! do not pay 11,000 Baht a year per employee and make illegals legal with the authorities. that some of them are multilingual and you can communicate with them (in our case in three languages) is not worthwhile. do not pay these (now legals) an adequate salary (like 8,000 Baht a month) and do not provide them with free food, free airconditioned accomodation and a month paid leave to visit their families in their home countries every three years (like we do). most important is that you don't treat your employees as human beings and in our case like family members! treat them like shit. let them sleep on the bare floor it is most embarrassing and frustrating getting an excellent job from happy and grateful live-in domestic staff.

[blackbox]

Good point above regarding not using illegals.

true! take lazy locals. let them rob you blind. give them once a month paid leave because #9 of the seventeen grandmothers or grandfathers has died. and once you completed to advance them the value of three months salary (the little brother needs a complicated operation, the sister's university fees are due, if gambling losses are not paid the worst has to be feared) and they disappear then thank Buddha for your blessing.

don't do what i (we) are doing! do not pay 11,000 Baht a year per employee and make illegals legal with the authorities. that some of them are multilingual and you can communicate with them (in our case in three languages) is not worthwhile. do not pay these (now legals) an adequate salary (like 8,000 Baht a month) and do not provide them with free food, free airconditioned accomodation and a month paid leave to visit their families in their home countries every three years (like we do). most important is that you don't treat your employees as human beings and in our case like family members! treat them like shit. let them sleep on the bare floor it is most embarrassing and frustrating getting an excellent job from happy and grateful live-in domestic staff.

Lovely.

Just plain and simply lovely.

[samtam]

I am very interested in this subject, having recently been up in Hong Kong during the riots, and staying with a friend who had just employed a new Filipina maid. The friend is the chairman of a large listed conglomerate, and lives in a big house on the Peak. His wife is away in UK most of the time, and although the wife had interviewed the maid, she appeared to have no basic maid skills. I can understand this a lot of the time, but I was surprised given the employer at the very poor quality of service being provided.

In Bangkok we have a terrific part time maid, who works 5 days a week. From the outset I laid down what her job required and how I liked things done. This is of course very important and not doing this is the cause of many dissatisfied employers. I wonder whether people, (both Thais and expats) are willing to pay above market rates to get a top quality maid, who really knows what she needs to do, or whether they just let things be done the way the maid has always done them.

In Europe and the USA you can employ top rate domestic staff, but you pay. But these people can effectively run your social and private life for you, without any hesitation.

Any thoughts on the subject would be very welcome.

[Naam]

"I wonder whether people, (both Thais and expats) are willing to pay above market rates to get a top quality maid, who really knows what she needs to do, or whether they just let things be done the way the maid has always done them."

one in ten-thousand might be willing

[kuffki]

"I wonder whether people, (both Thais and expats) are willing to pay above market rates to get a top quality maid, who really knows what she needs to do, or whether they just let things be done the way the maid has always done them."

one in ten-thousand might be willing

what would you classify as a top quality maid???

i have my maid twice per week for 3 000 per month and would not change or ask her to do anything different

[thaipod]

We have had several thai maids over the years some live out and some in with a salary of about 7-8000 a month . We have found that it is harder to control the live out as they quite often leave and cannot check their bags, some have been good honest workers and are willing to give bonuses ,others from agents which does not mean a thing often they lie about the maid / nanny background or experience, most have been lazy and can't trust them. Often thai maids insist on taking every holiday and often extending several day's with every excuse . she is or the mother is sick, all buses are full especially around songkran and New year . they always ask for advances and bonuses and gold at chinese new year.

We have had several things go missing over time as we have 2 houses and work away from home things like my wifes things, the childrens clothes and toys tools and some items that they believe you don't need any more . The last thai maid she had a boyfriend that was visiting without our knowledge and stole from us , that was the last..

We now have had Burmese/Karen maids for the past few years from the same source and have permits to work which live in and found to be much better they are good workers and pay them around 6000 for one and 5000 for the other . they clean, cook ,do the laundry and have kept our properties in good condition overall and they do not cheat , steal or complain something is too hard and also always willing to learn something new ( quite often you only have to show them how to do something once eg: cook farang food, mix drinks ) ,they work from 7-00 to 6-00 and 6 day's a week but often come and help on their day's off and always extremily polite .

[DMC1]

I have a girl in twice per week. She cleans the house and does any ironing that needs doing. It takes her no more than 3-4hrs per time and I give her 2000Baht/month

[Rumblecat]

I suppose it's all down to personal preference. My maid comes five days a week, for about one to two hours a day. Washes dishes, cleans condo, washes and irons clothes. She also deals with the bills (I leave out the bill and money, she goes and pays it). 7,000 baht a month. Sure, a couple of times I've come home to find her sitting on the couch, watching TV, but that's fair enough- I'd be suspicious of anyone who didn't try and slack off when the boss isn't around.

[kuffki]

I have a girl in twice per week. She cleans the house and does any ironing that needs doing. It takes her no more than 3-4hrs per time and I give her 2000Baht/month

Thats is a fare rate, what i use to pay. But since i moved to a big house and little out of the way-i myself put up her salary to 3K as now she needs to spend more money on taxi and also has bigger house to clean.

I think if you treat your maid fair, you will never have a problem(well, minimize the ratio)

[samtam]

"I wonder whether people, (both Thais and expats) are willing to pay above market rates to get a top quality maid, who really knows what she needs to do, or whether they just let things be done the way the maid has always done them."

one in ten-thousand might be willing

So there might be a market; I know it would be exclusive and limited, but that's the point.

[samtam]

"I wonder whether people, (both Thais and expats) are willing to pay above market rates to get a top quality maid, who really knows what she needs to do, or whether they just let things be done the way the maid has always done them."

one in ten-thousand might be willing

what would you classify as a top quality maid???

i have my maid twice per week for 3 000 per month and would not change or ask her to do anything different

Someone who knows instinctively, or through training what needs to be done. (e.g. they see silver and know that it is such, and when and how to clean it; they know how to set a dinner table for three courses, using the correct items of silverware, which crystal glasses will be required, and how all these items should be cleaned.)

Edited June 15, 2010 by samtam

[Naam]

what would you classify as a top quality maid??? i have my maid twice per week for 3 000 per month and would not change or ask her to do anything different

Someone who knows instinctively, or through training what needs to be done. (e.g. they see silver and know that it is such, and when and how to clean it; they know how to set a dinner table for three courses, using the correct items of silverware, which crystal glasses will be required, and how all these items should be cleaned.)

i think "instinctively" is too much to ask for but the maid or male servant should be able to store in memory whatever has been explained and taught. that is something nearly impossible if communication is on a low level pidgin english, "farang thai" or even proper thai language. i don't want to sound derogatory but it's highly unlikely that the average Thai lady who is married to a Farang knows how to set a dinner table with crockery, cutlery and glasses when several courses of farang dishes and two or three different wines are served. even i would be lost quite often and therefore have to rely on the Mrs. on the other hand, these are relatively rare occasions. the main thing is to teach in-house staff what exactly cleanliness means and that food is prepared and served according to individual demands and tastes.

as far as training and teaching is concerned reverse roles might apply. when i married the Mrs (many rainy seasons ago) her cooking abilities were limited to heat up water and pour it in a cup in which a tea bag was hanging. a year later in Nigeria she was an eager student taking cooking classes. her "lecturer" was our cook from Cameroon who cooked 8 years for the German Ambassador to Cameroon and who taught her whatever my grandmother and mother forgot or had no time to teach her.

[samtam]

This is really my point about the availability of top quality domestic staff in Thailand, or SE Asia for that matter. That 1 in 10,000 would want such a service must still be quite a large market. As far as my table setting requirement is concerned, it is not difficult to learn, and yet as you note most would not know, nor as you suggest would their employers. And for some people - the 1 in 10,000 - it might be important to have knowledgeable and competent staff who could fulfill all such requirements.