Burmese Maids' Heading Back Home?

[stat088]

I don't know anyone paying less than 13k.

You guys must be in Bangkok.

Down south alot of maids are getting between 4-6k a month.

Agreed, up North 13k would be incredible, more like 5-7k, anyone paying 13k plus needs their head examined and most likely American. Even when I lived in Bangkok never paid anything like that.

You're insinuating Americans aren't as cheap as Eurps or Aussies, or that Americans get paid more money?

Maybe he is insinuating Americans are spoiling the market?

[1sickpuppy]

Those who are paying 6, 7 k should check their deep down values of respect to human being dignity. Ask yourself what you can do with this amount of money? Strange enough these people will talk about justice, democracy and humanism while their actions are far from that.

Another useless quote from a Troll with no understanding on Thai lifestyles.

Gotta be a tight assed Pom eh

[Petchou]

Those who are paying 6, 7 k should check their deep down values of respect to human being dignity. Ask yourself what you can do with this amount of money? Strange enough these people will talk about justice, democracy and humanism while their actions are far from that.

Another useless quote from a Troll with no understanding on Thai lifestyles.

Gotta be a tight assed Pom eh

Brilliant and so meaningful

[HerbalEd]

Mine was getting 7k a month. She had her own room and food provided.

Thai live in housekeepers are demanding 15000 baht per month, some even more. The days of cheap domestic labour have long gone in Thailand.

If the OP is also paying 7000 per month or similar, is probably why his maid is seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

Looks like maybe farangs will have to pay a "fair" price for a maid instead of a "cheap" price. Life just ain't fair for the poor farang.

[HerbalEd]

Mine was getting 7k a month. She had her own room and food provided.

Thai live in housekeepers are demanding 15000 baht per month, some even more. The days of cheap domestic labour have long gone in Thailand.

If the OP is also paying 7000 per month or similar, is probably why his maid is seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

My maid was with us for 5 years. She was part of the family. My kids really miss her but we still keep in touch. She got a job in in prawn factory and earns up to 12k per month.

And you let her go that easily? How much more would you have to pay to bring her up to 12K/month?

[HerbalEd]

My Housekeep who is in her late 40s and does not live in (has a Husband working locally), is getting 9,000 per month plus one day off. She has a host of other jobs, which she does outside our working hours. Shortly she will have been with us a year and we are going to give her a 500 baht pay rise (she doesn't know yet). She has a free lunch, coffee in the morning and any clothes/shoes we don't want, she has first refusal. We also like to take her out for a meal maybe once a month. We have three dogs, who she absolutely adores, especially the baby one who is a 10 month old Great Dane - she Mothers him like a child and she gets quite miffed if we tell him off!! She is an absolute pearl and we will continue to give her annual pay rises of about 500 baht, which hopefully will act as a good incentive for her to stay with us. Oh she has to go back to Issan for a few days to sort out some land deal and we have paid for her flight from Surat and back. Over 10 years we have had a whole host of Myanmar Housekeepers, whom I am sorry to say were largely unreliable. They would work for a month, pick up their pay and then be off. No bye your leave or anything. We even had 2 who virtually did a mid-night flit! We live on Koh Samui, where it can be quite difficult to get house staff due to the plethora of hotels who pay well above the average household rate. Getting a good'un seems to be very much Hobson's choice.

From what you say about the hotels, it looks more like "Getting a good'un seems to very much ..." be giving them a fair and decent wage.

Edited February 3, 2015 by HerbalEd

[stat088]

Mine was getting 7k a month. She had her own room and food provided.

Thai live in housekeepers are demanding 15000 baht per month, some even more. The days of cheap domestic labour have long gone in Thailand.

If the OP is also paying 7000 per month or similar, is probably why his maid is seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

My maid was with us for 5 years. She was part of the family. My kids really miss her but we still keep in touch. She got a job in in prawn factory and earns up to 12k per month.

And you let her go that easily? How much more would you have to pay to bring her up to 12K/month?

I would have paid her 10k which is double what everyone else pays in the region. She moved so she could work with her husband.

[Nemesis7]

Time is changing, the the easy labor days are coming to a nearly end scenario.

[SGD]

My maid was with us for 5 years. She was part of the family. My kids really miss her but we still keep in touch. She got a job in in prawn factory and earns up to 12k per month.

So for perhaps an extra Bt5k a month you could have retained your "part of the family" maid and kept the kids happy ? Jeez.

[Donnie Brasco]

In Bangkok, a full-time, live-in maid should be getting between 12K and 15K a month depending on her job description.

Her job description may include keeping the house spotless, this includes windows and shoe care.

She is responsible for child care, laundry, market shopping and most food preparation.

She should be able to use all the household appliances.

No driving.

She is expected to wear clothing suitable for performing her duties.

She retires to her own quarters after work. She has her own TV and her own phone which stays OFF during working hours. No texts. No Facebook. No chatting. And she sees her friends outside of working hours and outside the house/condo. Except in genuine emergencies you are not to bother her after the dinner cleanup.

Start with two days off per month. If it's working out after three months you'll soon be quite ready to give her a day per week.

That's a maid.

A cleaning lady is just that. She lives out and she cleans according to an agreed upon schedule. There is little meal preparation, no grocery shopping and aside from the occasional babysitting there is no child care. Good cleaning ladies are fully aware of "scope creep".

If there are kids, then the nanny things has to be specified.

People who call their cleaning ladies "my maid" or "the maid" to impress their friends and acquaintances aside from appearing laughably pretentious are confusing the rates of pay between two or even three different jobs.

This blurring and scope creep has also led to the current confusion regarding pay rates among both foreigners and (yes) Thais.

These people are human. Heavy-duty "scope creep" in households who haven't worked out the details of employment can result in theft, pilfering, leakage and worse.

Maids leave their employers for any number of reasons.

Better jobs, more money and family matters being the most common.

You have a stranger in your house.

Jewelry cash and valuables should be handled accordingly.

Think carefully before you hire a servant.

It's an intrusive arrangement.

A military camp treatment with suspicious attitude of being a thief. What a pitty.

What's your maid/cleaning lady's salary and her job description.

And (since you feel you know enough about MY situation to call it an army camp I'll return the presumptuous ness) do you try to impress your friends by calling your cleaning lady "the maid" . You needn't bother, they know enough about you already to figure out what's going on.

or have you upgraded your maid into some kind family structure situation.

Any kids ? Cause THAT changes the mix. ?

[SGD]

My Housekeep who is in her late 40s and does not live in (has a Husband working locally), is getting 9,000 per month plus one day off. She has a host of other jobs, which she does outside our working hours. Shortly she will have been with us a year and we are going to give her a 500 baht pay rise (she doesn't know yet). She has a free lunch, coffee in the morning and any clothes/shoes we don't want, she has first refusal. We also like to take her out for a meal maybe once a month. We have three dogs, who she absolutely adores, especially the baby one who is a 10 month old Great Dane - she Mothers him like a child and she gets quite miffed if we tell him off!! She is an absolute pearl and we will continue to give her annual pay rises of about 500 baht, which hopefully will act as a good incentive for her to stay with us. Oh she has to go back to Issan for a few days to sort out some land deal and we have paid for her flight from Surat and back. Over 10 years we have had a whole host of Myanmar Housekeepers, whom I am sorry to say were largely unreliable. They would work for a month, pick up their pay and then be off. No bye your leave or anything. We even had 2 who virtually did a mid-night flit! We live on Koh Samui, where it can be quite difficult to get house staff due to the plethora of hotels who pay well above the average household rate. Getting a good'un seems to be very much Hobson's choice.

Not so much Honson's choice but no longer willing to work for slave labour rates when other businesses are offering perhaps 200% or more than you were.

Seriously, you are talking about a couple of hundred baht a day here and you let a good one go for the price of a couple of beers ?

[SGD]

Those who are paying 6, 7 k should check their deep down values of respect to human being dignity. Ask yourself what you can do with this amount of money? Strange enough these people will talk about justice, democracy and humanism while their actions are far from that.

Another useless quote from a Troll with no understanding on Thai lifestyles.

Nope, just another guy who feels paying a decent wage is fair when you seem to think paying the bare bones is all they are worth. Very sad.

[Evolare]

I just checked with one of my friends who is Thai his extended family has 6 houses all on the same land each house has 1 or 2 maids and they are paid between 8k and 10k plus a bonus two times per year. The maids also have room and board. They also have a total of about 200 factory workers all getting paid 300 baht per day When they work. He say they have more turnaround on factory workers than they have on the maids. Maids stay 4-5 years most of them leave for a higher paid job or get married and then leave. Also a friend of mine and his wife in Chiang Mai has a Thai woman in her mid 40s live-in maid with a 12 year old daughter that he pay 8k per month she has room and board for her and her 12 year old daughter plus a motorbike and he also Paid the daughters schoolcost and give her a smaller allowance every week a few hundred baht per week. The maid has been with them for 7 years now.

[stat088]

My maid was with us for 5 years. She was part of the family. My kids really miss her but we still keep in touch. She got a job in in prawn factory and earns up to 12k per month.

So for perhaps an extra Bt5k a month you could have retained your "part of the family" maid and kept the kids happy ? Jeez.

My kids are still happy. My wife has decided she no longer needs the help of a maid and the money we saved she gets to spend on whatever she wants.

[elgordo38]

My maid is on 14k, live in, I pay for 1/2 of her work permit provide rice and fridge space. She's got a good deal but, she spends one day per week cleaning my 100sqm factory and is happy to dog sit when we travel.

Seems like nobody is seeing the exodus I am.

I have a maid that spends 1 day per week cleaning my condo as well. Except, I don't provide rice and accommodation lol. I pay 1200baht a month....

In our condo in Chiang Mai when someone moves a crew of 3 comes in and cleans the place thoroughly. The cost is 300-500 bahts.

[LivinginKata]

In our condo in Chiang Mai when someone moves a crew of 3 comes in and cleans the place thoroughly. The cost is 300-500 bahts.

Lucky you, going off topic here but in our apartments in Phuket it's impossible to find a cleaner 'on call' at short notice for tenant move out/move in for even 1,000 baht. Quite honestly I would be happy to pay that but just no takers - they all want more.

[Petchou]

In Bangkok, a full-time, live-in maid should be getting between 12K and 15K a month depending on her job description.

Her job description may include keeping the house spotless, this includes windows and shoe care.

She is responsible for child care, laundry, market shopping and most food preparation.

She should be able to use all the household appliances.

No driving.

She is expected to wear clothing suitable for performing her duties.

She retires to her own quarters after work. She has her own TV and her own phone which stays OFF during working hours. No texts. No Facebook. No chatting. And she sees her friends outside of working hours and outside the house/condo. Except in genuine emergencies you are not to bother her after the dinner cleanup.

Start with two days off per month. If it's working out after three months you'll soon be quite ready to give her a day per week.

That's a maid.

A cleaning lady is just that. She lives out and she cleans according to an agreed upon schedule. There is little meal preparation, no grocery shopping and aside from the occasional babysitting there is no child care. Good cleaning ladies are fully aware of "scope creep".

If there are kids, then the nanny things has to be specified.

People who call their cleaning ladies "my maid" or "the maid" to impress their friends and acquaintances aside from appearing laughably pretentious are confusing the rates of pay between two or even three different jobs.

This blurring and scope creep has also led to the current confusion regarding pay rates among both foreigners and (yes) Thais.

These people are human. Heavy-duty "scope creep" in households who haven't worked out the details of employment can result in theft, pilfering, leakage and worse.

Maids leave their employers for any number of reasons.

Better jobs, more money and family matters being the most common.

You have a stranger in your house.

Jewelry cash and valuables should be handled accordingly.

Think carefully before you hire a servant.

It's an intrusive arrangement.

A military camp treatment with suspicious attitude of being a thief. What a pitty.

What's your maid/cleaning lady's salary and her job description.

And (since you feel you know enough about MY situation to call it an army camp I'll return the presumptuous ness) do you try to impress your friends by calling your cleaning lady "the maid" . You needn't bother, they know enough about you already to figure out what's going on.

or have you upgraded your maid into some kind family structure situation.

Any kids ? Cause THAT changes the mix. ?

You really want to know.

I have a maid for four hours every week, she get paid 700 baht, is treated with lot of respect. She is served lunch and get food and fruits when leaving. I don't feel I am doing anything special. Just treating her with dignity and I trust her, nothing is hidden, money, passport etc... She never touch anything.

What goes around comes around.

I hope this satisfy your curiosity.

[stat088]

My maid was with us for 5 years. She was part of the family. My kids really miss her but we still keep in touch. She got a job in in prawn factory and earns up to 12k per month.

So for perhaps an extra Bt5k a month you could have retained your "part of the family" maid and kept the kids happy ? Jeez.

My kids are still happy. My wife has decided she no longer needs the help of a maid and the money we saved she gets to spend on whatever she wants.

And Jeeeeeez, why should i pay 3 times what the Thais are paying???

[Johpa]

Those who are paying 6, 7 k should check their deep down values of respect to human being dignity. Ask yourself what you can do with this amount of money? Strange enough these people will talk about justice, democracy and humanism while their actions are far from that.

Another useless quote from a Troll with no understanding on Thai lifestyles.

Ah yes, the neo-sahib adulating the Thai Hi-So lifestyle of insisting on living high off the labors of others. At least DGS puts lifestyles in the plural and so perhaps there is a very faint glimmer of hope for DGS when he finally reaches those pearly gates. Oh, but I am sooo sorry, as it must be a case of jealousy on my part.

[dotpoom]

Why not just ask her, she probably knows best.

Edited February 3, 2015 by dotpoom

[LivinginKata]

Inflammatory posts and the resulting trading of insults - all removed

[ChiangmaiRob]

Mine was getting 7k a month. She had her own room and food provided.

Thai live in housekeepers are demanding 15000 baht per month, some even more. The days of cheap domestic labour have long gone in Thailand.

If the OP is also paying 7000 per month or similar, is probably why his maid is seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

In CM the going rate is 7K, that's what they ask for. Ours is on 9k/month for a six day week, not live in but 07:30 - 17:00 and stays overnight if required. She cleans, cooks and helps look after the kids and she gets her food. She is pretty happy with what she gets. I'm guessing 15k is in BKK? Not sure how easy it would be to get a Burmese maid there, but I would think that would be the cheaper option if you could find one!

[uptheos]

All Burmese want to go home if the conditions are right. I have worked among them for years and I know this for a fact

Anyone who thinks they really like Thailand, it's masters and want to stay here is sadly mistaken.

Some may have jobs, but they still want to go back and who can blame them?

Edited February 4, 2015 by uptheos

[wabothai]

300 baht a day (minimum wage) + room and board is not all that bad for unskillrd labor. This a respectful wage Mr. Petchou.

[Petchou]

300 baht a day (minimum wage) + room and board is not all that bad for unskillrd labor. This a respectful wage Mr. Petchou.

If it doesn't need any skills or effort, why not do it yourself? Someone cleaning our mess and dirt deserve more, these are values I was taught from my parents. Some think and treat of maids like slaves. Imagine for a second your mom doing this job.... How would you like her to be paid and treated Mr. Wabothai?

[uptheos]

300 baht a day (minimum wage) + room and board is not all that bad for unskillrd labor. This a respectful wage Mr. Petchou.

If that's based on 6 days a week =1,800 x 4 = 7,200 month.

I would say 7,200 plus room and board is a fair wage

Most maids won't go anywhere and spend very little, saving it for the time they feel comfortable to return.

[Naam]

Those who are paying 6, 7 k should check their deep down values of respect to human being dignity. Ask yourself what you can do with this amount of money? Strange enough these people will talk about justice, democracy and humanism while their actions are far from that.

Another useless quote from a Troll with no understanding on Thai lifestyles.

Would you please explain what is Thai lifestyle for you? Keep focus on subject not me ....

he thinks "Thai lifestyle" is acting hi-so, exploiting the weak ones and looking down on us "dumb" ones who treat their staff properly

by the way, my [not so] humble view is that you can't generalise "a maid/employee is x Baht/month" as remuneration and perks depend on various factors amongst a bunch of others the capabilities, reliabilty and honesty of your staff.

this summer our live-in housekeeper couple will be nine years with us. they are happy, we are happy. need i say more?

[saakura]

We have a very good burmese maid working for us since over 5yrs. Very hardworking, sincere, very honest in money matters. She lives with us, has her own bedroom with aircon and ensuite. We are a small family with one boy in school and both of us are working. We pay her 13k and mostly she does not take leave on weekends even though we encourage her to take a break.

[Tomtomtom69]

More opportunities are arising in Myanmar (please do some research as to why you shouldn't refer to the country in it's entirety as 'Burma'). now that it is opening up. Maid and other workers have been saving for a long time awaiting this very time. Now they can go back, start a small business, and be with their families.

That is exactly right. I have met a number of Burmese who have returned to Myanmar since around 2012/2013 due to the opening up of the economy and the rising influence of tourism. They are all making much more money and are holding down better jobs than they were in Thailand.

[Goinghomesoon]

My maid is on 14k, live in, I pay for 1/2 of her work permit provide rice and fridge space. She's got a good deal but, she spends one day per week cleaning my 100sqm factory and is happy to dog sit when we travel.

Seems like nobody is seeing the exodus I am.

GB do you think this exodus actually eventuated in the end? We are in Yangon now and looking for one of these mythical returnee-nannies as we were hoping for someone with conversational Thai and English to look after our bilingual toddler. Everywhere we go we here there's a shortage of good, experienced household staff in Yangon. Or maybe returnees aren't linking into the community that is offering work.