Maids Wages

[tuky]

I am just wondering what the going rate for a maid is.

Our maid works perhaps 10 hours per day, she helps take care of our two kids.md she does a darn good job of cleaning.

We have been through quite a few maids over the last few years, whilst I think I know why, I want to keep this maid. So to start, lets talk about wages.

WHt do you think is a good wage for a maid as described above?

We are in Sriracha.

[MattFS218]

I am just wondering what the going rate for a maid is.

Our maid works perhaps 10 hours per day, she helps take care of our two kids.md she does a darn good job of cleaning.

We have been through quite a few maids over the last few years, whilst I think I know why, I want to keep this maid. So to start, lets talk about wages.

WHt do you think is a good wage for a maid as described above?

We are in Sriracha.

Sriracha is tricky because you have all those Japanese & Korean business men pushing up the rates. I'd say 10,000 baht/mo...but I'm often accused of pricing Thai wages too high...althought I honestly think they are accurate.

--matt

[MattFS218]

but of course, Thai's and westerns alike rarely leave a job because of low wages.

[chuchok]

Is she 'well fit'?

[britmaveric]

Tuky - sounds like you have a gem. You might pose that question to your maid. (obviously a silly answer on her part will be ignored)

[Sum Num Na]

Tuky - sounds like you have a gem. You might pose that question to your maid. (obviously a silly answer on her part will be ignored)

No point asking her as she will just say "up too you"

[britmaveric]

Tuky - sounds like you have a gem. You might pose that question to your maid. (obviously a silly answer on her part will be ignored)

No point asking her as she will just say "up too you"

Well when dosh is involved I'm sure you can pry out an answer.

Anyways Tuky I'd pay her rather generously even if it seems out of line for the usual wage. It sounds like she is going way/beyond normal. (hard work should be rewarded)

[BKK90210]

I don't know about the thai-farang household, but this is what my wife family is paying - fringe of BKK area

5000 B - Housekeeper - live-in (cooking, cleaning, washing w/ washing machine)+ 2 meals/day + 3 wks vacation + all budhist holidays off + weekend off

4000 B - Nanny - 2 kids - live out + lunch + weekend off

7000 B - Driver - live -in, 2 meals/day, weekend off + 3 wks vacation + all budhist holidays off

They're also loaning her money to pay off the land in Issan which they deduct fixed amount per mo. from her salary.

Edited May 23, 2006 by BKK90210

[tuky]

OK, well she is helping with the kids (but not a nanny) and she is cooking when she feels like it (we eat out most of the time). We are paying her 4500.

I have told the wife we need to make sure she stays with us by offering her more than others will. She is still on a 3 month trial, I have decided and let her know already that if she is good after 3 months we will up it to 6k. I think this is a lot for our area considering she gets clothes provided and food as well.

What do you think? are we fair?

[sriracha john]

Going wage in Sriracha for a non-live-in maid: B3,000/mo.

Live-in status is a bump in that wage amount in and of itself, which would cover the add-on provided to non-live-in maids whose duties also include child-care. If she's not a live-in, the child-care extra duty would add around B1,500/mo.

If she's an exceptionally good worker, B1,000 over the 3K. (assuming she's a live-in)

With apologies to Matt, there's university graduates working in commercial business jobs making less than B10,000 a month in Sriracha.

[tuky]

We have previously had "illegals" as my wife is kinda cheap. But they always leave after a while. I have told her that we need a proper maid, on a proper wage. She then looked at an 18 year old girl from Udon at 3k (My father in laws home town), when khun wife saw my eyes bulge and my mouth salivate she canned that idea.

I have always told her that we will get what we pay for. However Matt, i think 10k is too much, we are not going through an agency, it was a friend of my mother in law that put us in the right direction. I imagine 10k would be an agency rate rather than a direct hire rate.

Our last maid was great, but after a few months her family had a problem and her teenage daughter ended up living with us. I was away at the time and as I am sure you can imagine by the time I did get home both maid and teenage daughter were gone. She was my favourite maid

[britmaveric]

With apologies to Matt, there's university graduates working in commercial business jobs making less than B10,000 a month in Sriracha.

I think what matters is the value that Tuky puts on his maid - if being overly generous equates to keeping a valuable asset then I think its dosh well spent.

She then looked at an 18 year old girl from Udon at 3k (My father in laws home town), when khun wife saw my eyes bulge and my mouth salivate she canned that idea.

Any photos?

Edited May 23, 2006 by britmaveric

[sriracha john]

Didn't see your updated post til after I posted mine, mate...

As you've already promised her 6K after probation, you're obligated to that amount... which, as per my post, will be already extremely high for Sriracha. She should be happy as pigs in .......

[tuky]

Going wage in Sriracha for a non-live-in maid: B3,000/mo.

We had been paying similar to that for the last few years, each maid left after a few months. This is why I thought if we pay a little more perhaps we can keep a long term maid. I am sick of changing all the time and having to teach a new maid how I like my house to run.

Granted, the previous maids have all been without ID. SO I guess they them selves do not want to hang around in the one place too long.

recipe for disaster, but this is the wifes domain. I just mow the lawn...

[tuky]

Didn't see your updated post til after I posted mine, mate...

As you've already promised her 6K after probation, you're obligated to that amount... which, as per my post, will be already extremely high for Sriracha. She should be happy as pigs in .......

Hence my next (previous now?) post

[sriracha john]

sheesh... ... can't keep up with the posts on this "hot topic"....

of course it is up to tuky what he pays... but over-paying can lead to almost as many problems as under-paying.

even paying paying well or even over-paying, it's often the nature of the field that they come and go more frequently than one wishes they would.

Your missus is on the right track, tuky.... let her follow her instincts as to what to pay her.

[tuky]

sheesh... ... can't keep up with the posts on this "hot topic"....

of course it is up to tuky what he pays... but over-paying can lead to almost as many problems as under-paying.

even paying paying well or even over-paying, it's often the nature of the field that they come and go more frequently than one wishes they would.

Your missus is on the right track, tuky.... let her follow her instincts as to what to pay her.

I just wish she had kept the one with the teenage daughter, they were both live in and we had two for the price of one. I never got to meet the teenager, but I presume she wasn't ugly as they were both gone before I got home

[sriracha john]

Didn't see your updated post til after I posted mine, mate...

As you've already promised her 6K after probation, you're obligated to that amount... which, as per my post, will be already extremely high for Sriracha. She should be happy as pigs in .......

Hence my next (previous now?) post

too tired....

going to bed... I'll post any additional info as needed in the AM..... hopefully it won't be up to Page #6 by then...

just will say... to reiterate, it's kind of the nature of the job that it often is very transient... no matter what you pay.

nighty night all....

and oh, btw...... the 18 y/o that quit.... she came over to my place for a while... and she WAS good.....

Edited May 23, 2006 by sriracha john

[Mobi]

We have paid between 4.5k to 7 k through the years, and up to 8 k for a driver, depending on whether they live in etc, and whther we were in Bkk or Pattaya. We have always fed our staff if they are on the premises (i.e even if they live outside, they have at least 1 meal in my house.)

Right now, after losing the live-in maid and driver (husband & wife) who came down from BKK with us - they soon found more lucrative work outside - we have one maid who works 9 hours/day Mon-Sat for 5,500 pm (she started at 5K and we increased her after 2 months) and another who comes 4 days a week for 200 Baht/day. Both live in the nearby village (walking distance, but they use motorbikes). They eat 1- 2 meals a day with us.

We are pretty happy with both of them - the 6 day a week maid is a single mother and has an 8 year old daughter who sometimes comes over to play with my stepson, and she seems very happy and settled with us. The second is in her fifties and does the more outside manual work - cleaning the yard, garden etc. We like to treat our staff as part of the family, and take them out with us if we go to the beach, Zoo, celebrate Songkram etc, and get the village kids to come along as well.

We have heard from the village that they are very happy working for us and that the wife treats them well, so hopefully they will stay a long time.

I have heard of some farangs around here who treat their staff like shit - it makes me very angry when I hear about it - there's just no need for it - they're all human beings for God's sake.

[Jai Dee]

I just mow the lawn...

pigzarse...

You spend most of your time in that spa bath and the beer fridge within arms reach...

[sriracha john]

I have heard of some farangs around here who treat their staff like shit - it makes me very angry when I hear about it - there's just no need for it - they're all human beings for God's sake.

Absolutely!! Good treatment of ANY employee is essential...

I just mow the lawn...

pigzarse...

You spend most of your time in that spa bath and the beer fridge within arms reach...

whilst thinking of the 18 y/o that got away????

[Jai Dee]

whilst thinking of the 18 y/o that got away????

Just wait 'till tuky wakes up and reads his thread...

[sriracha john]

whilst thinking of the 18 y/o that got away????

Just wait 'till tuky wakes up and reads his thread...

LOL@

HAHAHAHAHAHA.... that's GOTTA be thaivisa's most absurd new smiley ever....

Just wait 'til tuky's missus reads it before him...

[tuky]

I would mow the lawn if I had a mower, honest I would.

Instead I stick to watering the lawn, even that is hard though, one hand for the hose, one hand for the beer...where do I put my ciggie?

/edit

I just got off the phone to the missus and told her to go and buy a sprinkler

[Makyai]

Is it commonplace to have a maid in Thailand?

Though I have been exposed to maids in households, I wasn't sure that it is commonplace. Do all expats have maids - live in or not?

[Jai Dee]

Do all expats have maids - live in or not?

I don't... my missus wouldn't trust anyone working in our house.

We did have some "family help" a little while back, but the missus complained that they couldn't do the job as good as she did... so they were sent packing.

Guess my missus has pretty high standards... bless her.

[tuky]

Makyai, at 4-7k per month why not have a maid?

We have had both live in and live out maids, I don't know how many expats have maids but we like to have one to help with the big house and the two kids.

[tuky]

We did have some "family help" a little while back, but the missus complained that they couldn't do the job as good as she did... so they were sent packing.

or was it the bok bok being produced on the lounge room floor?

[Noel]

Is it commonplace to have a maid in Thailand?

Though I have been exposed to maids in households, I wasn't sure that it is commonplace. Do all expats have maids - live in or not?

As far as my circle of friends and acquaintances is concerned, having a maid is certainly commonplace, particularly for those who live alone.

Those with a live-in girlfriend/wife tend not to as a rule, although quite a few do.

[Mobi]

Do all expats have maids - live in or not?

I don't... my missus wouldn't trust anyone working in our house.

We did have some "family help" a little while back, but the missus complained that they couldn't do the job as good as she did... so they were sent packing.

Guess my missus has pretty high standards... bless her.

My ex missus was the same. had the odd maid from time to time, but never lasted long. Nothing could match her standards of hygene and tidiness. Did everything herself, and made my and the kids' lives hel_l - claimed she worked her fingers to the bone and we never helped (which we did, but like the maids, our work wasn't up to standard so she did it all herself!)

miserable, moody, unpleasant bitch. Took me 26 years to throw her out.

Sorry, Jai Dee - your post just brought back painful memories - we all have our crosses to bear