How Much You Pay For Your Helper

[kokesaat]

We pay a live-in maid and gardener (20 yr old maid and her 24 yr old husband) 270 baht each per day. Their separate bungalow has a refrig, tv, porch, and kitchen supplies. We give them things like toothpaste, dish/laundry soap, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, a box of mama, a case of M-150 each month, and a catfish pond that's there for them if they want. We were away from our house for 6 weeks with no problem. Dogs, birds, 1 acre of land, house all well cared for. If they want to work 31 days a month, we pay for 31, but generally (if not big holiday) we don't pay for days off. More often than not, they choose to work all month.

I wouldn't give them up for the world!

Udon

[wana]

We pay a live-in maid and gardener (20 yr old maid and her 24 yr old husband) 270 baht each per day. Their separate bungalow has a refrig, tv, porch, and kitchen supplies. We give them things like toothpaste, dish/laundry soap, cooking oil, coffee, sugar, a box of mama, a case of M-150 each month, and a catfish pond that's there for them if they want. We were away from our house for 6 weeks with no problem. Dogs, birds, 1 acre of land, house all well cared for. If they want to work 31 days a month, we pay for 31, but generally (if not big holiday) we don't pay for days off. More often than not, they choose to work all month.

I wouldn't give them up for the world!

Udon

dont forget the crate of m150 !!! classic

[Naam]

The going rate, for a Thai employer (a Foreign employer will be charged extra, for Foreign language skills, etc.), is 4k per month, everything included, that is, food and board.

That cheap? I am paying 12K including food and a nice guest room for sleeping

Can my wife apply for the position? She'll do it for 10K. Seriously, I think that is way over the norm. However I'm not familiar with BKK.

Yup, I live in BKK, may be this is the reason of paying more

we don't live in BKK but in Pattaya and employ a married couple who's salaries and perks amount to approximately THB 26-28,000 Baht a month. the latter is a rather conservative estimate because it does not reflect the blocked capital cost of a small house i built for them next to ours for which i paid THB 650k.

work schedule 5 days a week plus an hour each on saturdays and sundays except when we have guests. the lady is with us 7 years, the husband since 6 years. no communication problem, we can converse with them in three languages, instructions can be given in writing in two languages.

i don't want to list the perks because that would only invite some resident clowns, who possess a wealth of no idea concerning domestic employees, to make irrelevant and unqualified remarks.

[draftvader]

Burmese maid. 10k per month, Monday to Friday. Live out. Work permit and health insurance paid for.

Where did you find your maid? If you know a good agency then please pm me with the details.

[canuckamuck]

We have a married couple that live with us 24/7, they get 11k, but we are up in the sticks. English is getting better, but my wife can talk to them in three languages other than English. and I can talk to them in Thai.

[samran]

Burmese maid. 10k per month, Monday to Friday. Live out. Work permit and health insurance paid for.

Where did you find your maid? If you know a good agency then please pm me with the details.

Like most good things, word of mouth. Lots of trial and error, including a maid who flogged my wife's engagement ring amongst other things.

The BAMBI website is probably a good place to start.

Edited April 13, 2012 by samran

[wana]

Burmese maid. 10k per month, Monday to Friday. Live out. Work permit and health insurance paid for.

Where did you find your maid? If you know a good agency then please pm me with the details.

Like most good things, word of mouth. Lots of trial and error, including a maid who flogged my wife's engagement ring amongst other things.

my old wifes family was pretty rich (by thai standards ) and they told me they had a room that the maid wasnt allowed to go EVER

this is where they had hidden their gold and financial papers etc

i thought it funny at the time ,inviting a possible thief into your home just to get cheap room service

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Chiang Mai area

350 a day

speaks some English

[Naam]

my old wifes family was pretty rich (by thai standards ) and they told me they had a room that the maid wasnt allowed to go EVER

this is where they had hidden their gold and financial papers etc

i thought it funny at the time ,inviting a possible thief into your home just to get cheap room service

here's the [not so funny] proof that i was right concerning "irrelevant and unqualified remarks of people who possess a wealth of no idea concerning domestic employees".

[wana]

my old wifes family was pretty rich (by thai standards ) and they told me they had a room that the maid wasnt allowed to go EVER

this is where they had hidden their gold and financial papers etc

i thought it funny at the time ,inviting a possible thief into your home just to get cheap room service

here's the [not so funny] proof that i was right concerning "irrelevant and unqualified remarks of people who possess a wealth of no idea concerning domestic employees".

why dont you enlighten us then ? is it better to leave everyone with a wealth of no idea and post a snickering dog pic instead ?

personaly ,i wouldnt allow a maid to live in and clean my house IF i thought she will steal everything of value as soon as i am not paying attention .....

[Naam]

i don't waste time to enlighten hopeless cases.

[TheCure]

12,000 THB, English speaking not live in Burmese maid in central Bangkok .

Stay away from pinay maids here .

[farang000999]

many here obviously overpaying but if they are happy then who gives a crap?

[duiter]

So, how much is English Teacher of Thai native earn per month for teaching English as a second language at government school ?

[PingManDan]

250 Baht per day or thereabouts. ?

Minimum wage now is 300 THB

[farang000999]

And we know how rigorlessly enforced laws are here.

[JAS21]

We have had our maid about two and a half years now. Started off at 5500 + 500 for good work ... she has always got the extra. Now she gets 6600 inc the good work bit.

She has a day or two off every two weeks ... plus a couple of weeks or so twice a year. And any other days that she wants, which is not that often. She is completely honest, does the cooking, washing, ironing, cleaning, hedge and lawn cutting etc never complains at what we asked her to do, she isn’t that good at painting thought and recently had a ‘hand slippy’ whilst putting fertiliser on my newish lawn ... it’s recovering though! He husband stops with her when he is working in the area that is not very often. Now we have her young daughter staying for the school hols.

She doesn’t work that fast but it’s good. When we go away she looks after the place and it’s always neat and tidy when we return.

Sometimes I give her a couple of hundred extra baht if she is going shopping for clothes for her children, which she does every month and then sends them back to her home town. She is careful with her own money.

She seems happy here and my wife taught her maths the first year so that she could take some test ... her English is improving but not enough for me to communicate effectively on my own.

We live on the border of BK and Nonthaburi if it’s of any interest. She is the sister of a caddy at our local golf club, that's how we found her.

Edited April 13, 2012 by JAS21

[wana]

i don't waste time to enlighten hopeless cases.

but snickering dogs are well worthy of your "valuable" time ?

[Beetlejuice]

Starting rate approx 8000 baht per month, if you’re lucky plus food, accommodation and utilities for a live in house keeper. Some will ask up to 15000 baht for this service. Burmese and women from other south East Asian countries that have no paperwork are even asking these rates.

For a live in housekeeper plus a sort of rent a wife who will oblige with sharing her masters bed, looking at anything from 20000 baht per month up to 40000 baht a month, depending on how gullible the house owner is and on the age and looks of the girl.

As for references and qualifications, forget it, you take the gamble when letting any strangers into the home.

I have heard some real horror stories regarding these so-called housekeepers and personally don`t recommend it, especially when there is child or animal care involved. One acquaintance I once worked with in Bangkok had his dog beaten to death with a brick by his housekeeper when he was out during the day and another case I heard of was when a guy decided to go futher than the employer relationship with his housekeeper. She failed to inform him that she had aids.

Edited April 13, 2012 by Beetlejuice

[Dancealot]

250 Baht per day or thereabouts. ?

Minimum wage now is 300 THB

300THB for how many hours?

[JohnnyGray]

Pattaya: married couple mid 30's no kids, good English. 12k BHT per month each. LIve in. Free food. 6 days work a week. Paid Thai national holidays. She cooks fantastic Thai food and a mean English breakfast. He drives me anywhere, maintains the car, does the garden and pool and picks me up day or night. Can't do without them. Part of the family, we would be lost without them

[farang000999]

Somebody should translate this thread and post it on Pantip. Thai people will probably be going door to door and stopping farang in Big C asking if they can quit their profession and become a maid.

[JohnnyGray]

Somebody should translate this thread and post it on Pantip. Thai people will probably be going door to door and stopping farang in Big C asking if they can quit their profession and become a maid.

Rubbish, the vast majority of Thai domestic workers are employed by Thai families, on similar terms and conditions

[farang000999]

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

[JohnnyGray]

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

No worries, I may pay a little above average, but Pattaya's not your average town. Wages vary across Thailand just as they do in every other country. It's all about supply and demand. In some places services are cheaper than in others. And when you find good employees, and want to retain them, then it makes sense to reward them

[Beetlejuice]

Somebody should translate this thread and post it on Pantip. Thai people will probably be going door to door and stopping farang in Big C asking if they can quit their profession and become a maid.

Rubbish, the vast majority of Thai domestic workers are employed by Thai families, on similar terms and conditions

I wouldn’t agree with that, exactly.

From experience I know that service staff expect the farang to pay more for their services.

An uncle of the wife in Bangkok has had several Thai lady live in housekeepers over the years, most staying about 3 years before they decide to move on. He pays a maximum of 5000 baht per month with one day off per week, including food and has never had any problems finding live in housekeepers. I also know of several other Thai families that pay roughly the same. Some time ago the wife and I decided to hire a live in housekeeper and the wages were discussed with them on the phone when they inquired about the job, which many were quite happy to accept. When some women turned up for an interview and saw me, than everything changed and they begun quoting some ridiculous prices and in the end we gave up.

But by judging what you have quoted you appear to be someone who is not pushed for money and probably financially better off than a lot of us. For me anyway 24000 baht a month for staff would be out of the question and I guess the same applies to the majority of us.

My answer to the OP is, as a farang he should expect to pay more, mostly the prices I have already quoted in my previous post and the prices quoted in your post.

[Naam]

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

No worries, I may pay a little above average, but Pattaya's not your average town. Wages vary across Thailand just as they do in every other country. It's all about supply and demand. In some places services are cheaper than in others. And when you find good employees, and want to retain them, then it makes sense to reward them

...especially when they are with you since years, have been trained by the Mrs, know all your preferences and dislikings and are honest. then you give a flying fàrt about the irrelevant earnings of a college graduate or his lecturer.

[brit1984]

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

No worries, I may pay a little above average, but Pattaya's not your average town. Wages vary across Thailand just as they do in every other country. It's all about supply and demand. In some places services are cheaper than in others. And when you find good employees, and want to retain them, then it makes sense to reward them

...especially when they are with you since years, have been trained by the Mrs, know all your preferences and dislikings and are honest. then you give a flying fàrt about the irrelevant earnings of a college graduate or his lecturer.

This is a very good point - once you find staff you are happy with it doesn't matter whether you pay 5k/10k/20k... it's peanuts when you convert back into euros/dollars/pounds... the best answer (which summarises all of the answers above) to the OP's question (How much do you pay for domestic staff?) is NOT MUCH

[ExpatJ]

Two nannies at 13 k plus @ 2 k each over time. One driver 12 k plus @3k overtime. One of the nannies lives in but no food provided. We are lucky in that both me and my wife work and can cover these costs ( at least at the moment !)

[h90]

The Thais you know may be paying that because they are wealthy and generous but no it is not average.

I know many Thais who have graduated college and are starting at 20k a month. By the time you add food and shelter to 12k a month they are in the same range if not higher depending on the quality of food and housing accomodation.

If you are happy then don't sweat it, I was not trying to be snarky, mearly making a joke.

No worries, I may pay a little above average, but Pattaya's not your average town. Wages vary across Thailand just as they do in every other country. It's all about supply and demand. In some places services are cheaper than in others. And when you find good employees, and want to retain them, then it makes sense to reward them

...especially when they are with you since years, have been trained by the Mrs, know all your preferences and dislikings and are honest. then you give a flying fàrt about the irrelevant earnings of a college graduate or his lecturer.

This is a very good point - once you find staff you are happy with it doesn't matter whether you pay 5k/10k/20k... it's peanuts when you convert back into euros/dollars/pounds... the best answer (which summarises all of the answers above) to the OP's question (How much do you pay for domestic staff?) is NOT MUCH

20K isn't peanuts....for that you can easily get one half day in Europe who will do more than a Thai full day.