The Burmese maids

[thaipod]

Just got another Burmese maid and already driving me crazy. Had a few Karen maids for the past 10 years and found them great workers , show them something once and never have to show them again.Great workers.

The new Burmese girl we have had to train and need to check her every couple of hours and is on the phone all day often stuck in her bra strap. I'm talking about from 6-00am to 9-00/10-00pm while slowly working away often talking to 3 to 4 others. This girl can eat, she has a huge bowl of rice and and other dishes we give her every meal, We don't know where she puts it.

Anyone out there have the same problems?

[Gsxrnz]

Get a Thai maid. Mine's worth her weight in gold, and she's a big girl and not your typical 38kg either. Been with us for nearly three years now.

[Morakot]

had to train and need to check her every couple of hours

No short-time memory? Train her every few hours? In doing what?

[kannot]

Oh yes...........I ve been through 4-5 sets of Burmese staff on the last 18 months. heres what Ive found

1 they will leave with no notice at the drop of a hat, then realise later they want to come back ( we dont have them back)

2 some are very stupid some are ok none are on the ball so far

3 doesnt matter how well you treat or pay them it made no difference

4 most were too stupid to see when they were onto a good thing, those that did thought it was coming for free and would be lazy

5 they will all tell you EXACTLY the same story to leave "Father/Mother sick"

6 Some are so stupid they will leave 4 days before salary due and then not get paid by us as they are supposed to give us 1 months notice

I now use the Wifes Sister I gave up with Burmese but I need a man for the heavier stuff

Also tried one Laos couple, the girl was funny and had a great attitude but totally unable to learn anything, the boy was like a popstar and spent the whole time preening himself..............which was no good as they were working on the land and you get grubby.

I include a brand new VERY nice house with flush toilet proper western bathroom with big shower, fully tiled throughout fridge freezer ( new) new cooker all nice new built in kitchen wood cupboards, clothes, bed linen free rice, free motorcycle with unlimted free petrol/gas 1 day a week off 1 hour for lunch work 8-5 many times nothing to do free satellite tv and 30inch led tv, free internet

Salary 16000 per couple, wife to do cleaning husband for work on the land, they have to keep my very small house 50m2 clean and their own 48m2 house clean.

I had one man who was GOOD he was interested to learn things you could see immediately, unfortunately his girlfriend who controlled him was a bone idle cow, if I asked her to do something she immediately called him over to do it for her.

They left ,we kept his phone number but he changed phones and we found later he had split from the idle cow.

[ATF]

Doesn't really matter where they are from they are all thick and as soon as they've saved up 20-30k they leave thinking they have won the lottery.

Best to pay a bit extra and use a maid service company. They usually don't need to live in and are professional and if you don't like them call the agency and get her changed.

[sean in udon]

Doesn't really matter where they are from they are all thick and as soon as they've saved up 20-30k they leave thinking they have won the lottery.

LMAO

[AlexRRR]

15 to 16 hour day and you expect the cream of the crop?

[dominique355]

What an incredible bunch of racist posts here! Burmese are (all) like this (at least the one I know) and all Burmese are stupid... gee guys! Really?

I have employed a Thai maid for almost 10 years until I found out that she cheated on my all these years. Now I employ a Burmese girl and that has been the situation for quite some time. OK she is often on the phone while working, but that's really not my problem as long as her work is OK and done properly.

There is no fundamental difference between Thai, Burmese, Laotian or Cambodian maids: some are good and honest, some are bad. Just like the rest of us. Including us TV posters!

[daveAustin]

Oh yes...........I ve been through 4-5 sets of Burmese staff on the last 18 months. heres what Ive found

1 they will leave with no notice at the drop of a hat, then realise later they want to come back ( we dont have them back)

2 some are very stupid some are ok none are on the ball so far

3 doesnt matter how well you treat or pay them it made no difference

4 most were too stupid to see when they were onto a good thing, those that did thought it was coming for free and would be lazy

5 they will all tell you EXACTLY the same story to leave "Father/Mother sick"

6 Some are so stupid they will leave 4 days before salary due and then not get paid by us as they are supposed to give us 1 months notice

I now use the Wifes Sister I gave up with Burmese but I need a man for the heavier stuff

Also tried one Laos couple, the girl was funny and had a great attitude but totally unable to learn anything, the boy was like a popstar and spent the whole time preening himself..............which was no good as they were working on the land and you get grubby.

I include a brand new VERY nice house with flush toilet proper western bathroom with big shower, fully tiled throughout fridge freezer ( new) new cooker all nice new built in kitchen wood cupboards, clothes, bed linen free rice, free motorcycle with unlimted free petrol/gas 1 day a week off 1 hour for lunch work 8-5 many times nothing to do free satellite tv and 30inch led tv, free internet

Salary 16000 per couple, wife to do cleaning husband for work on the land, they have to keep my very small house 50m2 clean and their own 48m2 house clean.

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

[thailiketoo]

It's not the maid. Burmese maids work fine for people from Iceland. I bet you're not from Iceland.

[Thongkorn]

Oh yes...........I ve been through 4-5 sets of Burmese staff on the last 18 months. heres what Ive found

1 they will leave with no notice at the drop of a hat, then realise later they want to come back ( we dont have them back)

2 some are very stupid some are ok none are on the ball so far

3 doesnt matter how well you treat or pay them it made no difference

4 most were too stupid to see when they were onto a good thing, those that did thought it was coming for free and would be lazy

5 they will all tell you EXACTLY the same story to leave "Father/Mother sick"

6 Some are so stupid they will leave 4 days before salary due and then not get paid by us as they are supposed to give us 1 months notice

I now use the Wifes Sister I gave up with Burmese but I need a man for the heavier stuff

Also tried one Laos couple, the girl was funny and had a great attitude but totally unable to learn anything, the boy was like a popstar and spent the whole time preening himself..............which was no good as they were working on the land and you get grubby.

I include a brand new VERY nice house with flush toilet proper western bathroom with big shower, fully tiled throughout fridge freezer ( new) new cooker all nice new built in kitchen wood cupboards, clothes, bed linen free rice, free motorcycle with unlimted free petrol/gas 1 day a week off 1 hour for lunch work 8-5 many times nothing to do free satellite tv and 30inch led tv, free internet

Salary 16000 per couple, wife to do cleaning husband for work on the land, they have to keep my very small house 50m2 clean and their own 48m2 house clean.

I had one man who was GOOD he was interested to learn things you could see immediately, unfortunately his girlfriend who controlled him was a bone idle cow, if I asked her to do something she immediately called him over to do it for her.

They left ,we kept his phone number but he changed phones and we found later he had split from the idle cow.

Maybe through years of being beaten down by There Government, don't think to much comes to mind Lowe people are the same. They live in the Now.

[Thakkar]

These complaints are rather thoughtless. So, think about it: the kind of person you want as a maid--honest, hard-working, thoughtful, requiring minimal supervision--do you think such a person would work as a maid, and if so, do it for long? Perhaps a few, but most such people would not and those that briefly do, by the very nature of the kind of person they are--reliable, honest, hard-working--will move on to bigger and better things soon enough.

There's no use complaining. It's the kind of job where the kind of person required to do the job, would not want to do the job. You are therefore left to choose from a pool of unambitious, dishonest layabouts. It's nothing to do with them being Burmese; it's the same kind of pool to choose from wherever you go.

T

[Halfie]

16,000 per couple? What is that supposed to mean? The question remains how exactly did you treat them?

[richard_smith237]

Our maid / nanny is the daughter of a lady who works for my inlaws... Uni educated (in Myanmar) she makes more money from us than she would in Myanmar. She is legal and full employable in Thailand.

It will be a disappointing day if / when she moves on.

She's reliable, honest, hard working, trust worthy... We leave our son alone with her for a few hours....

Are all Burmese the same? no, I doubt all employers are a model of decency too, I certainly doubt that those who are dumb enough to tar a whole nation with the same brush have reasonable expectations.

Edited August 26, 2014 by richard_smith237

[kannot]

16,000 per couple? What is that supposed to mean? The question remains how exactly did you treat them?

They asked for 8000 baht each...I treated them like I treat myself, I took one of them to the doctors when he was ill and paid for the treatment, I often took them out for dinner if it had been a hard day to save them cooking, days were generally 8-5 with an hour for lunch, many days there was no work, they also got free fish from my lake 12 inch tilipia 6 a week otherwise they might well have stripped it bare, free bananas, mangoes, pineapple, pappaya free rice free motorcycle and free gas 1 day a week off ( many Thais give them 1 day a month) free electric free water, brand new house.

I even took them to the sea 1 day as they hadnt been there before as they were mountain people.

I often took them to Tesco abd bought them something like fruit or occasionally milk

For the first month many arrive with almost no money so we give them 100 baht a day for food deductable at the end of the first months salary.

Buggered if I know why they did what they did leaving me very often the sh1t including having to cancel flights etc

[thehelmsman]

So, you work her 0600 to 2100 daily - 15 hrs. and you have a problem with amount of rice she eats. Does that sum up your dilemma? I'd like to hear her side of story.

[iancnx]

The only people that are qualified to comment on this thread are those that have actually been through the process of employing domestic staff here. Burmese, Laos, Cambodian, Thai is makes no difference. Some good, many bad. The better and more generously you treat them the more likely they are to take the p1ss. If you treat them normal like a Thai would treat them then you have a better chance of retention, but this will always to having to compromise on quality. I have tried it everyway. Best girl I ever employed was an Akha girl in CM. Hard worker, honest and smoking hot.

The only people that are qualified to comment on this thread are those that have actually been through the process of employing domestic staff here. Burmese, Laos, Cambodian, Thai is makes no difference. Some good, many bad. The better and more generously you treat them the more likely they are to take the p1ss. If you treat them normal like a Thai would treat them then you have a better chance of retention, but this will always to having to compromise on quality. I have tried it everyway. Best girl I ever employed was an Akha girl in CM. Hard worker, honest and always ready to please. True I paid well over the odds for 2 hours cleaning per day. Happy days.

Edited August 26, 2014 by iancnx

[benalibina]

So, you work her 0600 to 2100 daily - 15 hrs. and you have a problem with amount of rice she eats. Does that sum up your dilemma? I'd like to hear her side of story.

After she finishes eating rice ofcourse.

[Gecko123]

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

daveAustin:

Your comments sound disturbingly similar to orientation advice a newly disembarked colonialist would likely have received 100-200 years ago.

[benalibina]

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

daveAustin:

Your comments sound disturbingly similar to orientation advice a newly disembarked colonialist would likely have received 100-200 years ago.

Your point being.......not much has changed since ?

[Gecko123]

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

daveAustin:

Your comments sound disturbingly similar to orientation advice a newly disembarked colonialist would likely have received 100-200 years ago.

Your point being.......not much has changed since ?

The point being that the poster's attitudes are archaic.

[thailiketoo]

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

daveAustin:

Your comments sound disturbingly similar to orientation advice a newly disembarked colonialist would likely have received 100-200 years ago.

Your point being.......not much has changed since ?

The point being that the poster's attitudes are archaic.

Another poster has called it the Bwana force. Or I guess one could call it the Sahib symptom.

[Jasun]

I've had Philippine, Indo and Burmese maids, and the Burmese lady was the pick of the crop. She was quite social, on the phone as you mentioned, and also a bit of a nutter (dancing in the garden, playing her her violin on the toilet), but she always got the job done. I'd only worry if your undies start to go missing.

[loppylugs1]

The only people that are qualified to comment on this thread are those that have actually been through the process of employing domestic staff here. Burmese, Laos, Cambodian, Thai is makes no difference. Some good, many bad. The better and more generously you treat them the more likely they are to take the p1ss. If you treat them normal like a Thai would treat them then you have a better chance of retention, but this will always to having to compromise on quality. I have tried it everyway. Best girl I ever employed was an Akha girl in CM. Hard worker, honest and smoking hot.

The only people that are qualified to comment on this thread are those that have actually been through the process of employing domestic staff here. Burmese, Laos, Cambodian, Thai is makes no difference. Some good, many bad. The better and more generously you treat them the more likely they are to take the p1ss. If you treat them normal like a Thai would treat them then you have a better chance of retention, but this will always to having to compromise on quality. I have tried it everyway. Best girl I ever employed was an Akha girl in CM. Hard worker, honest and always ready to please. True I paid well over the odds for 2 hours cleaning per day. Happy days.

Exactly. Comments from posters that know nothing of this particular subject. Not Thai ,but Indians when living there,well paid ,well treated but have in built time clock ready to go off. Theft,lies ,cheating,got fed up with it all and came to Thailand,same here as I can see

[Boxclever]

Don't know about Burmese maids but I just finished a 3 year contract in Phnom Penh and had 3 maids come in between 9 and 2 pm EVERY DAY, did the cleaning, washing, ironing, any shopping I needed doing, always willing to help in any way possible. They were fantastic! Total cost for this service - US$30 per/mth! I always looked after them though with tips when earned and small gifts and unwanted items from time to time, excellent service.

[kannot]

Oh yes...........I ve been through 4-5 sets of Burmese staff on the last 18 months. heres what Ive found

1 they will leave with no notice at the drop of a hat, then realise later they want to come back ( we dont have them back)

2 some are very stupid some are ok none are on the ball so far

3 doesnt matter how well you treat or pay them it made no difference

4 most were too stupid to see when they were onto a good thing, those that did thought it was coming for free and would be lazy

5 they will all tell you EXACTLY the same story to leave "Father/Mother sick"

6 Some are so stupid they will leave 4 days before salary due and then not get paid by us as they are supposed to give us 1 months notice

I now use the Wifes Sister I gave up with Burmese but I need a man for the heavier stuff

Also tried one Laos couple, the girl was funny and had a great attitude but totally unable to learn anything, the boy was like a popstar and spent the whole time preening himself..............which was no good as they were working on the land and you get grubby.

I include a brand new VERY nice house with flush toilet proper western bathroom with big shower, fully tiled throughout fridge freezer ( new) new cooker all nice new built in kitchen wood cupboards, clothes, bed linen free rice, free motorcycle with unlimted free petrol/gas 1 day a week off 1 hour for lunch work 8-5 many times nothing to do free satellite tv and 30inch led tv, free internet

Salary 16000 per couple, wife to do cleaning husband for work on the land, they have to keep my very small house 50m2 clean and their own 48m2 house clean.

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

i watch them like hawks, any problems they are sacked immediately, we feed them back the drivel some have fed us "my Father sick"

[bodypaul]

Oh yes...........I ve been through 4-5 sets of Burmese staff on the last 18 months. heres what Ive found

1 they will leave with no notice at the drop of a hat, then realise later they want to come back ( we dont have them back)

2 some are very stupid some are ok none are on the ball so far

3 doesnt matter how well you treat or pay them it made no difference

4 most were too stupid to see when they were onto a good thing, those that did thought it was coming for free and would be lazy

5 they will all tell you EXACTLY the same story to leave "Father/Mother sick"

6 Some are so stupid they will leave 4 days before salary due and then not get paid by us as they are supposed to give us 1 months notice

I now use the Wifes Sister I gave up with Burmese but I need a man for the heavier stuff

Also tried one Laos couple, the girl was funny and had a great attitude but totally unable to learn anything, the boy was like a popstar and spent the whole time preening himself..............which was no good as they were working on the land and you get grubby.

I include a brand new VERY nice house with flush toilet proper western bathroom with big shower, fully tiled throughout fridge freezer ( new) new cooker all nice new built in kitchen wood cupboards, clothes, bed linen free rice, free motorcycle with unlimted free petrol/gas 1 day a week off 1 hour for lunch work 8-5 many times nothing to do free satellite tv and 30inch led tv, free internet

Salary 16000 per couple, wife to do cleaning husband for work on the land, they have to keep my very small house 50m2 clean and their own 48m2 house clean.

Strange as this sounds, they don't respect you as you award above their station which has the knock-on effect of having them think they are above their station and thus shouldn't need to do the work they're paid to do. Asian culture 101.

i watch them like hawks, any problems they are sacked immediately, we feed them back the drivel some have fed us "my Father sick"

You sound nice!!!!!!

[Halfie]

Sounds like you were more than fair. If your wife is Thai maybe the problem lies partly with her. I've seen a lot of Thais treat their employees very badly.

[geronimo]

Try to understand what kind of an education she's had. Only then will you understand her behaviour.

[Lucifer]

Try to understand what kind of an education she's had. Only then will you understand her behaviour.

Try to understand what kind of an education some of these falangs have had. Only then will you understand their behaviour.