Why Did Our Maid Quit?

[PattayaParent]

Money is irrelevant if the person doesn't enjoy their surroundings and no "Sanook" is available.

Very long hours too.

Yes but look at the high salary she was getting for those hours as compensation.

[katabeachbum]

post and quote of post promoting illegal activities have been removed

Please read up on Forum rules

[maccaroni man]

If she have better life with you than alone, how are you exploit?

The fact that the political situation in Burma is oppressing the population and reduce them to harsh poverty does not gives you the right to take advantage of it and not give her fair work conditions, comparable to what people get here...

Thai bar girl in CM earn 4k plus 'tips' have to pay for own food and accom.

(Some bar force girl to live 10 in room, not allow out longer 10 min unless bar fine pay)

Burma maid on 3k all found has better deal IMHO.

Well obviously you got confused, because here, we are talking about Bangkok's rates (13 000), and if she brings a maid from Burma to Bangkok, the maid would have to live in Bkk so pay Bkk's prices and therefore get a Bkk's salary, otherwise it's just not possible.

the op said she give the maid her own room in the house with tv and what ever clean bed covers she wants. free rent, free food, a clean safe secure place to live and be treated with respect with a low wage is something many people would do for free so imo exploitation is a bit harsh.

[endure]

Money is irrelevant if the person doesn't enjoy their surroundings and no "Sanook" is available.

Very long hours too.

Yes but look at the high salary she was getting for those hours as compensation.

If it wasn't sanuk the money doesn't matter.

[Trembly]

There are hordes of Burmese and Laotians holding placards begging for jobs at the immigration police in Soi Suan Plu. Some of them are queuing up to renew their papers, some of them are desperate for a reason to queue up to renew their papers.

Not that I'm calling them animals, but going there would be like going to an animal rescue shelter; you never know what you're going to get but you might find a real gem and you'd be doing some one a massive favour.

Edit : caveat emptor.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Trembly

[Thongkorn]

Get illegal Burmese maid, pay very low wage (3000bht).

Same as rich Thai do.

Thats the Idea join the exploitation wagon, My wifes friend walk to Thailand, from Burma to avoid being killed by the Govenment solders, she works in factory in Sahmut Prakan on half the wages a Thai gets .She is happy just to be alive but thats not the point.People do not understand or think Why these people are in Thailand, they just did not come looking for work many had to leave Burma.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Thongkorn

[Heng]

I have had Thai, Laos, Burmese and Cambodia maid/nannies that have lasted between 4hrs and 3 years and have left for a variety of reasons or for no reason. Salaries have ranged from 5,000 - 12,000. Not one of them has ever stolen anything, though i do suspect one of them of having nicked my vodka. One of them tried very hard to get me to shag her, but I declined, after which she snubbed me for weeks. Am I missing something here? Am I expected to shag them and give them a bonus? Is that the Thai way?

The number of folks with names like Somying Spencer and Wannika Jones putting up property up for collateral on loans to pay off gambling debts have to get their funds from somewhere. What you describe above is step 1 or 2.

[jackr]

thai salerys are about 10-15 a month

Way off mark. Skilled builders/sparkies only make 300-350 a day; non-skilled folk around 200, or 5-6k a month.

Imo, you paid her way too much, op, and were also too easy on her. There may have been pangs of worthlessness or perhaps she saw herself above her station (due to bank teller pay) and no longer wanted to work as a maid.

[IMA_FARANG]

Can't tell for sure but at 50 plus she may not been able to handle the workload physically. A Thai woman at that age might just not have been willing to say, "Madam, you work me too hard!", because then she would "lose face" to have to say that to you. It's very important for a Thai not to have to admit that...especially not to a foriegner.

Did she also have a family she had to take care of?

If so, the work hours may have just been to many, especially if she had a family to take care of also. Something similar happened to my Thai wife about 25 years ago. She took a job in a hotel as a maid whaen I wasn't working...the money was good but physically (at 45 years and not in the best of health) she just couldn't handle the work load of job and fanily together. And as I said "losing face" is very important to Thais of that age. It's a matter of self-pride for them.

So when I got a job and went back to work...my wife's job was the first thing to go.

Family also comes first for many Thai women. They will sacrifice just about anything, including their health, to support their family. And they don't cry or complain about it ether. I learned that the hard way myself.

[CWMcMurray]

Easy answer. Get two maids and pay them each 6 or 7,000. Thais not happy working alone.

Best Answer so far...

[Thaddeus]

I read this thread with little passing interest, as I don't employ a maid nor am I ever likely to. (I do have a gardener who speaks seven languages tho')

But I do have a question for the OP.

When your maid resigned, she must have been with you saying "I resign" did it not cross your mind at the time to say "why?"

[wolf5370]

I read this thread with little passing interest, as I don't employ a maid nor am I ever likely to. (I do have a gardener who speaks seven languages tho')

But I do have a question for the OP.

When your maid resigned, she must have been with you saying "I resign" did it not cross your mind at the time to say "why?"

Seven languages - wow! Are they all "human" languages or does he speak Tulip and Aphid?

Edited July 9, 2011 by wolf5370

[tailspin]

I suspect the husband. I would hire a PI and have him tailed. Maybe he has set up the cleaning lass as a mia noi.

[wolf5370]

I suspect the husband. I would hire a PI and have him tailed. Maybe he has set up the cleaning lass as a mia noi.

Unlikely, if he can afford 13.5k for a maid, he wouldn't go for a 50 year old mia noi!

[SteveLynch]

umm

once again please find me a maid in bangkok ,who will work 5 days a week in a 4 bedroom house ,im not suppling accomadition

i have interviewed about ten maids and when they see a large house they baulk and the prices go up .everybody says i pay way too much .

yet i cant find a maid who works for 300 baht a day please find one for me

[maccaroni man]

umm

once again please find me a maid in bangkok ,who will work 5 days a week in a 4 bedroom house ,im not suppling accomadition

i have interviewed about ten maids and when they see a large house they baulk and the prices go up .everybody says i pay way too much .

yet i cant find a maid who works for 300 baht a day please find one for me

you might be better off with a service where they bring in a team that does floors windows the whole nine yards from there you can probably pick the one or two of the girls you like who will moon light the job.

[Thaddeus]

I read this thread with little passing interest, as I don't employ a maid nor am I ever likely to. (I do have a gardener who speaks seven languages tho')

But I do have a question for the OP.

When your maid resigned, she must have been with you saying "I resign" did it not cross your mind at the time to say "why?"

Seven languages - wow! Are they all "human" languages or does he speak Tulip and Aphid?

The gardener bit was a bit of a porky, a side jibe to a different poster on a different thread. But, the question I asked still stands.

[cheeryble]

13,500pm? I have friends who have less than that coming in.

Are you paid by a Christian organization by any chance.....and if so they have any more jobs?

[wandrinstar]

Let the Husband do the work.

[bonobo]

i have to agree with the above post about hiring 2 maids on a lower salery be it 6k or 7k a month .a lot of house cleaners are doing this they work 20 to 30 hrs a week halk the work and work 2- 3 jobs as a team ,might be the way to go

At my factory, all the family members who own the company have houses in the compound, and all live there except one. All the maids are pretty much from the same village. I don't think their pay is too high, but they seem happy enough. There is one older woman, and the rest are much younger. They all socialize, adopt chicks from the flock of fancy chickens which have the run of the place, eat together, Turnover is low. One maid quit after she married one of the employees, but her replacement has been working for 4 years now.

I think their living conditions are pretty good, but the pay is less than our factory workers get, so there might be something to the hiring more than one maid comments. There is satisfaction in numbers, in being able to socialize. If someone was raised in a village setting, then that type of setting is what would be most likely needed to make a maid feel comfortable (not just having a room where she is alone when she is not working.).

[jayjayjayjay]

Is your husband's name Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Personally I've had maids leave for reasons as simple as to shack up with a boy down the road to return to study in Burma to complete a maths degree. Longest serving a 45yrs plus Issan lady who's husband was working in Taiwan. Left when husband returned. Still miss her cooking. I would prefer Thai speaking as it the main language used by extended family, but it is difficult to keep maids too long these days if your in a house and expect them to do everything. Work ethic is really not what is was 15 yrs ago. I find the parents of maids now not supporting them to work hard. They really do expect to get up in the morning, open and shut the gate for you when you leave, then watch TV for the rest of the day........

[flnu]

To the poster who wants to know why I didn't ask why: Heh. No, she did not say "I resign." She started by observing, conversationally, that there are many maids in BKK. It was her weird eye-contact more than her words that clued me in that something was wrong. Of course I asked what was wrong...can I fix it? Did she want to not work Sat.? Bigger salary? I wanted to keep her. I got "big house" followed by hand gestures and headshaking. Next I try to figure out when she was quitting...today? Next week? Do you want to work with us until you find your next job? Ok, now I'm just making her uncomfortable so I give up and just thank her for what she's done and wish her luck. My impression is that it was just more work than she wanted to do. Unfortunately, I feel like I could have managed things better to have created a job that she could have been happy with. But during her time with us, she refused to quit working when I told her, repeatedly, she was done for the day...I don't mean 10 more minutes, I mean another 1.5 hours after quitting time. Or she started getting up an hour early to make a fresh lunch for me and refused to do otherwise when I told her last night's leftovers were just fine. It was weird which makes me think I was probably missing something, that I failed to communicate my (much lower) expectations in a way she could understand.

Edited July 10, 2011 by flnu

[Thaddeus]

To the poster who wants to know why I didn't ask why: Heh. No, she did not say "I resign." She started by observing, conversationally, that there are many maids in BKK. It was her weird eye-contact more than her words that clued me in that something was wrong. Of course I asked what was wrong...can I fix it? Did she want to not work Sat.? Bigger salary? I wanted to keep her. I got "big house" followed by hand gestures and headshaking. Next I try to figure out when she was quitting...today? Next week? Do you want to work with us until you find your next job? Ok, now I'm just making her uncomfortable so I give up and just thank her for what she's done and wish her luck. My impression is that it was just more work than she wanted to do. Unfortunately, I feel like I could have managed things better to have created a job that she could have been happy with. But during her time with us, she refused to quit working when I told her, repeatedly, she was done for the day...I don't mean 10 more minutes, I mean another 1.5 hours after quitting time. Or she started getting up an hour early to make a fresh lunch for me and refused to do otherwise when I told her last night's leftovers were just fine. It was weird which makes me think I was probably missing something, that I failed to communicate my (much lower) expectations in a way she could understand.

Thank you,

I think there you have your answer, she felt obliged to put the extra hours in as it is a large house with quite a few responsibilities, and she just couldn't take it any more. Despite you telling her to stop, she still thought it was her duty to carry on.

A previous suggestion from one poster saying you may be better with two maids on lower individual salaries sounds like the best course of action.