Maids And Gardeners

[egeefay]

We are thinking of retiring and moving to Thailand (Hua Hin) in a year or so.

We think we will build a house there. My wife is Thai and I speak Thai well enough to communicate

I was wondering if anyone reading this forum has had any real world experiences with maids and gardeners.

I understand there are maids (and gardeners???) who live in your house full time as well as others who work full time but come in during the day and go home at night. Then there are those who work only a few days a week.

What hours do your live in maids work each day?

How many days a week does your full time maid usually work?

What about holidays and vacations for full time maids?

What benefits do you offer: bonuses, hospital care, transportation etc.

Did anyone ever have a live in maid who also had a husband and kids?

Did you have any problems with your help or words of advice on what to do and what to avoid doing?

We were also considering using a gardener although we might not have enough work for a full time person. Has anyone had any experiences using a gardener for other purposes like driving or running errands or ???

[jdinasia]

Probably best to have a place at least picked out and figuring out your needs before worrying too much about it.

You'll find plenty of info on thse questions if you search this site.

[astral]

When you are choosing a house you will need to look at the accommodation side for the "help".

Generally this will be separate, or at least closed off from the main house.

IME maids work 6 days a week, if they live in.

Matters like hospital etc are up to you, but can easily be covered by a local health insurance policy, with companies like BUPA/Blue Cross.

Pay is usually 13 months for a year, with the bonus at New Year time.

Not sure about having a whole family move in, it could create problems, especially with the children running riot?

However a husband and wife team would cover maid and gardener/security/chauffeur quite nicely.

Best to take local advice once you have moved in, and local advice for references as they will have access to your entire house!!!

[h90]

consider if you really want that. For me as farang, it makes me nervous if there is all the time someone arround me. If I want it quiet and the maid is phoneing loud with her boyfriend (on the own phone). if you take a shower, your wife took the towel out and you have to think, take your dirty clothes on your wet body or walk naked to take a towel but may giving your maid the shock of her life, because she is making the room.

We reduced our maid from 2-3 times a week to 1 time a week because we want more privacy.

Just an idea, it might be easier to increase the days a maid work than kick her out just because you are borred of her....

[leisurely]

We currently have just the one full time maid. She lives out and works 5 days a week. We could ask her to do Saturdays, but it is nice to be just the family. While we were in the middle east we had a live in - nightmare No privacy and she was a bit light fingered Whatever you decide to do in the domestic staff dept. make sure you take up references. don't just rely on those photocopied pieces of paper - we had one who had got hold of someone elses and tippexed their name out and substituted her Also, take a photocopy of the relevant ID cards etc. Don't come the high horse with them either, we have found - as in life - the better you treat a person the better their work will be. Respect and honesty is the way to go.

[Gary A]

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

[monochaser]

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

Edited March 28, 2006 by monochaser

[edd]

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

This is falang thinking.

When i need work doing I pay the workers 200 Baht a day plus we feed them well and they are very willing to work for my wife and I, in fact they are always calling to see if there is any work to be done.

The locals work in the fields very hard, under the hot sun for 100 Baht per 10 hour day, the local Thais pay a lot less than falangs do.

[monochaser]

Well Edd, certainly that sounds a lot more reasonable

[egeefay]

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

You got me interested in what the minimum wage in Thailand is. I found this website from the Thiland Board of Investment. Seems the wage varies from city to city and varies from a high of 170 baht a day (8 hours???) in Bangkok to a low of 133 in Chiang Rai.

http://www.boi.go.th/english/how/demographic.asp

[egeefay]

Probably best to have a place at least picked out and figuring out your needs before worrying too much about it.

You'll find plenty of info on thse questions if you search this site.

Yes. We did buy a lot in Palm Hills recently and in the the process of designing our house the question about a "maid quarters" came up. Although we are sure we will need help taking care of the house, We weren't sure if we wanted to go with a live in maid...so I searched on the forum and found one article about maids. Very helpful but still left some questions unanswered.

I thought that if I could get some feedback from people who have actually had either live in maids or part time maids (and gardeners) we might be able to make a decision on that and factor it into our design

[h90]

our motorbike man gets 8000 (before 7000) per month, but he pays the gasoline himself and the motorbike is his. There are a lot of people who want to work for that money.

Actually as one other motorbike guy left us (too drunk all the time) and the remaining works very hard and relaible, we give him between 1.500 (when he takes a lot days off) and 5000 Baht bonus per month.

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

This is falang thinking.

When i need work doing I pay the workers 200 Baht a day plus we feed them well and they are very willing to work for my wife and I, in fact they are always calling to see if there is any work to be done.

The locals work in the fields very hard, under the hot sun for 100 Baht per 10 hour day, the local Thais pay a lot less than falangs do.

[egeefay]

our motorbike man gets 8000 (before 7000) per month, but he pays the gasoline himself and the motorbike is his. There are a lot of people who want to work for that money.

Actually as one other motorbike guy left us (too drunk all the time) and the remaining works very hard and relaible, we give him between 1.500 (when he takes a lot days off) and 5000 Baht bonus per month.

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

This is falang thinking.

When i need work doing I pay the workers 200 Baht a day plus we feed them well and they are very willing to work for my wife and I, in fact they are always calling to see if there is any work to be done.

The locals work in the fields very hard, under the hot sun for 100 Baht per 10 hour day, the local Thais pay a lot less than falangs do.

I'm not familiar with a "motorbike man". Is that a delivery person?

[h90]

here they call them "messanger" but not sure if that is correct.

Yes it is a delivery person, like the pizza delivery, only that ours delivers hydraulic seals and sometimes the customer are 100 km away (or at least they claim that, on the last 100 km away customer the car showed 22 km, but still far for the motorbike).

our motorbike man gets 8000 (before 7000) per month, but he pays the gasoline himself and the motorbike is his. There are a lot of people who want to work for that money.

Actually as one other motorbike guy left us (too drunk all the time) and the remaining works very hard and relaible, we give him between 1.500 (when he takes a lot days off) and 5000 Baht bonus per month.

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

This is falang thinking.

When i need work doing I pay the workers 200 Baht a day plus we feed them well and they are very willing to work for my wife and I, in fact they are always calling to see if there is any work to be done.

The locals work in the fields very hard, under the hot sun for 100 Baht per 10 hour day, the local Thais pay a lot less than falangs do.

I'm not familiar with a "motorbike man". Is that a delivery person?

[monochaser]

We got a low min wage of 133/day and we got a massa with a 120/day wage. When someone is slaving for me in a hot field, I'll gladly give them the daily min wage per hour

Edited March 28, 2006 by monochaser

[skylar]

When you take in a maid, it's like extending your family. Make sure your wife picks someone who's going to fit in, and be agreeable to you as well as her. You can't just order Thai staff around. It's more personal than that; it's like having a paid friend or surrogate relative or something like that.

I'm a little suprised with the farang perspectives on maids, as I wouldn't describe myself as feeling nervous or annoyed around a maid. It's nice to have someone to come home to, who's got a meal cooked for you and is playing with your pets. Also, Thai maids don't do absolutely everything. Your wife will do certain things for you and for herself.

There's benefits to having a family, but you do have to put out a bit more if they have children - it would be kind to pay for their school expenses, and it would be well received. In return they'll serve your family with utmost dedication. If you and your wife form no bond with your staff and pay them meanly, then they won't defend you from critics or protect your house from thieves (could be their visitors, your visitors, randoms living in the area and beyond). If you wanted a family, it's probably better to go with a young family (younger than you and your wife), so that proper deference can be maintained. My mother had problems with a maid (married, with children) who was older than she was.

The employer-employee relationship is so informal. I think about it in symbiotic terms - you need them, and they need you, and you are both working towards the same goal - a happy, healthy (and clean!) and efficiently run household.

You have to give them Thai holidays off, as well as one day off a week for a full time staff member. The New Year bonus is also traditional. I'm pretty sure a gardener would be fine for doing other tasks... they'll be glad for the extra work. I haven't heard of any cases where hospital cover has been provided... and I guess it's less important now with the 30 baht scheme. However, it is wise to have family compassion or sick days.

[h90]

yes normal if anyone gets sick or has an accident you have to help at least our staff do not consider to take the 30 Baht scheme....

Or when the brothers motorbike is broken. If they are honest you may get the money back, maybe...

When you take in a maid, it's like extending your family. Make sure your wife picks someone who's going to fit in, and be agreeable to you as well as her. You can't just order Thai staff around. It's more personal than that; it's like having a paid friend or surrogate relative or something like that.

I'm a little suprised with the farang perspectives on maids, as I wouldn't describe myself as feeling nervous or annoyed around a maid. It's nice to have someone to come home to, who's got a meal cooked for you and is playing with your pets. Also, Thai maids don't do absolutely everything. Your wife will do certain things for you and for herself.

There's benefits to having a family, but you do have to put out a bit more if they have children - it would be kind to pay for their school expenses, and it would be well received. In return they'll serve your family with utmost dedication. If you and your wife form no bond with your staff and pay them meanly, then they won't defend you from critics or protect your house from thieves (could be their visitors, your visitors, randoms living in the area and beyond). If you wanted a family, it's probably better to go with a young family (younger than you and your wife), so that proper deference can be maintained. My mother had problems with a maid (married, with children) who was older than she was.

The employer-employee relationship is so informal. I think about it in symbiotic terms - you need them, and they need you, and you are both working towards the same goal - a happy, healthy (and clean!) and efficiently run household.

You have to give them Thai holidays off, as well as one day off a week for a full time staff member. The New Year bonus is also traditional. I'm pretty sure a gardener would be fine for doing other tasks... they'll be glad for the extra work. I haven't heard of any cases where hospital cover has been provided... and I guess it's less important now with the 30 baht scheme. However, it is wise to have family compassion or sick days.

[jdinasia]

We have two rai so it is hard to keep up with particularly during the rainy season. (Weeds). My wife hires people who are looking for work. It may take them two or three days to finish and she pays them 120 baht for an eight hour day. She never has a problem finding someone.

She pays them that much does she? 37 cents an hours could be a bit excessive. That must put a big hole in your wallet. There oughta be a law. I was unaware that slavery still existed. Wait now, even slaves made more than that

Aint Thailand amazing?

There is a seemingly endless supply of cheap labor that is willing and able to work.

Police officers get about 6k baht per month for 12 hour days 6 days a week. I believe for that pittance they also pay for their weapon and motorcycle.

7-11 employees make 23-25 baht/hr in BKK and handle the employers cash etc.

Live-in maids in Nakhon Nayok can make as little as 3k baht/month for 6 day weeks if they are Burmese and 4k baht/mo if Thai.

The amazing part is that none of these people will work in the long run if they do not think the wage is fair and the employer is decent.

[Greer]

We have a live in maid who has been with us for about 8 years now. She is more like a sister to the kids who, of course, call her Pee Noy (Older Sister Noy).

She is just like a part of the family.

She and my wife take turns cooking and looking after the kids and she usually is the one who drives them to school or, if we are busy in the afternoon, picks them up after school - she is a good and careful driver too.

Granted though, it is often difficult to find a really good maid, but one can be lucky.

I heard the story of a colleague in Hong Kong who eventually decided he rather liked his maid (he was single) and after some months they ended up with a somewhat different relationship than that at the beginning.

One morning, surveying the place from the bed, she exclaimed "This place is a mess! We need a maid!"...

That's why most Thai wives do not let their husband select the maid....

[OZONE]

When you take in a maid, it's like extending your family. Make sure your wife picks someone who's going to fit in, and be agreeable to you as well as her. You can't just order Thai staff around. It's more personal than that; it's like having a paid friend or surrogate relative or something like that.

There's benefits to having a family, but you do have to put out a bit more if they have children - it would be kind to pay for their school expenses, and it would be well received. In return they'll serve your family with utmost dedication. If you and your wife form no bond with your staff and pay them meanly, then they won't defend you from critics or protect your house from thieves (could be their visitors, your visitors, randoms living in the area and beyond). If you wanted a family, it's probably better to go with a young family (younger than you and your wife), so that proper deference can be maintained. My mother had problems with a maid (married, with children) who was older than she was.

You have to give them Thai holidays off, as well as one day off a week for a full time staff member. The New Year bonus is also traditional. I'm pretty sure a gardener would be fine for doing other tasks... they'll be glad for the extra work. I haven't heard of any cases where hospital cover has been provided... and I guess it's less important now with the 30 baht scheme. However, it is wise to have family compassion or sick days.

IMO, most accurate post so far

[khall64au]

I have a maid story.

Well, more like a weekly housekeeper story as she was not a live-in maid but came each Saturday to clean my house. When I first moved to Phuket, I was "lucky" enough to meet some expats who needed someone to take care of their very expensive homes while they were away. I spent my first year here living very inexpensively in amazing and luxurious homes - incl. hired gardeners and maids. Anyhow, the head housekeeper gained my friendship and trust and moved home with me several times.

Meanwhile, the gardener drank every drop of liquers left unchained in the house - and topped it up with whatever colour matched. he was harmless and likeable enough!

The maid/ housekeeper though was more clever... she managed to steal every piece of valuable gold and gem jewellery that I owned. And she got away with it! I could not prove a thing to the police and as it turns out- she did the same thing to many of my expat friends who had recommended her to me in the first instance. I was warned not to press charges or I would be looking over my shoulder for as long as I lived in Thailand.

Shamelessly, this "housekeeper/maid/ thief/ whatever" still has a thriving maids agency on Phuket and is most likely still stealing off her employers to this day.

Be careful who does your dishes.... that's all I have to say about that!!!!!

[skylar]

Yes, you do get bad eggs. One maid decided to keep some of my My Little Ponies. Then, I noticed that my Super Nintendo disappeared. My Swatch watch went missing. I was playing around the bar area once and I opened a disused cupboard to find... an empty crystal decanter wrapped in socks and a man's formal wear evening shirt!

Bad luck for you, khall. Maybe a few, well-laid rumours would be more effective? TIT, after all - the country thrives on gossip. In all honesty though, it's not just farangs who get burnt. A maid of my Thai teacher stole from her before she came to live in Australia. And I've heard the maid - male of the household relationship a couple of times as well.

[leftcross]

we use a maid and she is brilliant.

she used to work in the laundry of the apartment block where we lived and i used to chat to her a lot. she never missed a day while we lived there and was always working hard with a pleasant personality.

they used to pay her 5000 baht a month with one days holiday per month. she started at 7am and finished around 7pm. she was also renting her own place.

when we moved into a new place we needed a maid so i asked her if she was interested (she had told me she used to work as a room cleaner in a serviced apartment)

now she gets 8000 baht a month and a free room and food. she can have holidays when she likes, within reason and we help out when she wants to go home to isaan to see her family etc.

she is a brilliant worker and we are very lucky to have her.

i hope the original poster can get someone like Jum....

[The Dude]

I knew a dude in chang mai who had a burmese maid. This dude's gf would go to work in the morning and he would do the dirty deed with the nice looking maid. Now there's a maid story for you

[zzap]

We got a low min wage of 133/day and we got a massa with a 120/day wage. When someone is slaving for me in a hot field, I'll gladly give them the daily min wage per hour

In Thailand's agriculture, you'd only do that until you realise you're losing money selling the farm product if you pay more than the going rate for the workers.

[egeefay]

we use a maid and she is brilliant.

she used to work in the laundry of the apartment block where we lived and i used to chat to her a lot. she never missed a day while we lived there and was always working hard with a pleasant personality.

they used to pay her 5000 baht a month with one days holiday per month. she started at 7am and finished around 7pm. she was also renting her own place.

when we moved into a new place we needed a maid so i asked her if she was interested (she had told me she used to work as a room cleaner in a serviced apartment)

now she gets 8000 baht a month and a free room and food. she can have holidays when she likes, within reason and we help out when she wants to go home to isaan to see her family etc.

she is a brilliant worker and we are very lucky to have her.

i hope the original poster can get someone like Jum....

Your maid is very fortunate. I know teachers with college educations who make 10,000 baht a month...a little more than your maid ...but they have to pay for their own rent and food.

I'm sure your maid, Jum, feels as lucky to work for you as you are to have her.

If I am reading you correct, when she worked as a room cleaner she got 5000 baht for working 29 days, 11 hours a day (maybe an hour off for lunch?).

At that rate she was working for 15 baht an hour...under the minimum wage in Thailand which is about 20 baht an hour.

It always helps to know the person before you hire them. From what I gather from reading this thread getting references are not always reliable ways to find good help. Nothing beats being able to observe the person and their work habits for an extended period BEFORE you hire them.

[leftcross]

egeefay - i would think many isaan manual workers earn around 5000 a month for those sorts of hours. when they say a days work in thailand it isnt eight hours...

i wouldnt get ever someone from an agency to come into my home...have you seen some of the teachers these people also have on their books????

[Rinrada]

All is as they say ..Relative..

I have just taken on a Gardner/Estate manager and he was over the moon when we agreed on 50 Quid a month.

He now has a little hut on the top of our mountain and he will take a % of whatever he grows and sells in the local market.

Bearing in mind that we are away for most of the year on our 2 hour visit yesterday we almost filled the P/U with bananas,baby pineapples,lam yai and the biggest mangoes that I have ever seen.....grows on trees as they say..

[gerry1011]

I have a live-in Akha couple at my house.

They have their own seperate house on the land, 4500b each per month, work 8am to 5pm, one hour for lunch, 6 days a week, half salary bonus for New Year, half salary bonus for Songkran, 2 times 6 days off per year, and free use of a motorcycle.

They pay their own food but I pay the school fees of their little child.

Instead of giving higher salary I try to give them a very nice quality of life, and they are very happy to work at the house since two years.

They work extremelly good and the husband takes care of 7 rai of garden with just one more gardener.

They are, of course, living in the same property but everything goes very nicely and nobody disturbs anyone. They are part of the family.

[Misplaced]

I knew a dude in chang mai who had a burmese maid. This dude's gf would go to work in the morning and he would do the dirty deed with the nice looking maid. Now there's a maid story for you

He would put on a dress and help the maid do the cleaning after gf goes to work, so what?. It would be easier for him to come out of the closet and admited to his gf though .