Thai employees vanishing without trace, have you experienced that ?

[jovavnni]

This is a common story over here.

Luckily not all are the same but good ones are hard to find.

The greater Thai companies hold money behind as a kind of warranty to tackle this problem.

For example new staff have to pay for their own uniform on beforehand to get the job and if they not finish their contract properly,

say run away telling nothing to you, they simply do not pay the last wages and uniform refund etc.

Usually the Thai companies also have a notice of a month to quit the job properly.

It is not in the nature of most Thais to confront you with their part of the story, their way of thinking/living differs a lot from ours.

Most Thais, if they have a Bath in the pocket today they not worry about tomorrow, certainly not about your company or other serious things................

We have to learn to live with it, after all it's their country and behaviors we need to adjust to the land of the Smile. It is what it is.

[bubba1]

Pay peanuts get monkeys

[NoshowJones]

Over the years I remember 2 staff doing runners.

One got involved with drugs, marriage split up and then vanished to start a new life.

The other was a early 20's girl who got involved with a boy her family didn't agree with. We found out later the family sent her off to live with other family members a few provinces away.

"The other was a early 20's girl who got involved with a boy her family didn't agree with."

I just cannot understand how an adult, can be sent away (I wonder if it was against her will) just because members of her family don't agree with her choice of boyfriend.

Yes, I know this is Thailand, but surely in this day and age, that is going too far.

[12DrinkMore]

Pay peanuts get monkeys

And monkeys are still monkeys no matter what you give them.

[12DrinkMore]

Can I have his job? 65,000 a month,I'll even throw the missus in.

Jobs offering 65+K a month or more is very common place nowadays in Bangkok, just take a look at http://th.jobsdb.com, however the government made it very very tough to hire any foreigners, otherwise we wont have to deal with those very few entitled Thai who fill the criteria for this kind of work.

In what ways has it become difficult? For 65K salary and as long as you don't have more than 1 foreigner for every 4 Thais in the company I thought getting a work permit was automatic. It's not like IT is a closed profession. Please explain.

I am also extremely surprised you would be offering to pay 65K for a fresh graduate. In Bangkok, the starting salary for IT graduates is generally still only 20-30K and then after 3-5 years may eventually reach 65K. I know multinationals that are only paying 25-35K to Thai IT workers in Bangkok, where are you getting 65K from?

There is nothing automatic about it.

One point of failure is that you have to satisfy the labour department that there are no Thais that can do the job.

But 65k is well above the normal for a fresh graduate. Must have had something special like staying power, persistence and reliability.

[The manic]

It's not just what you ask them to do its the way you ask. But emptying rubbish bins and cleaning up bird shit is not a white collar task.

[The manic]

Setting up another business with your ideas and even logos and staff can happen in Asia but you would eventually here about it.

[BwindiBoy]

It happens in relationships too. Many a times you think things are going great, and then poof, gone. It has to do with maturity and taking responsibility for your actions.

Speak for yourself, but the fact a poof has gone has never resulted in any relationship of mine ending... ;-)

[Steiner]

Pay peanuts get monkeys

Stupid comment, he stated 65k a month, is that peanuts for a Thai?

I have had various different pay scales over the years, and people who would be considered 'qualified' and on a suitable remuneration, almost all have been a disappointment.

A statement should be based on some fact that is relevant to this post, yours isn't.

[Steiner]

I guess it all depends on the people you hire. Hire a Chinese-Thai from a middle or upper middle class Bangkok family with half decent English and you'll undoubtedly receive a much more motivated, hardworking person who doesn't make excuses for every little thing (I realise there are exceptions here too, especially if we're talking spoiled men who never had to do an honest day's work in their life). Hire an ethnic Thai or Lao from Isan whose family struggled to get through university at some mediocre upcountry Ratchaphat campus and their attitude will still be the same as if they never left their village in Ban Nohk nowhere.

Wrong. Best employee we have never finished school past 14, comes from a rural village, works well by Thai standards and she's trustworthy.

Your comment on Thai Chinese from 'middle upper class' families is laughable. They are the section most likely to be there to learn how to do it then start their own business.

[cyberfarang]

Some borrow money from private lenders, and can't keep up the payments.

They get scared from threats and leave so they can't be found.

Some leave to escape financial pressure from family members and constant complaints.

There is also the opposite. Some find jobs to buy their mobile phones, ipads and computers or to pay off debts they owe and once paid they leave the jobs.

3 problems I see, there are the Thais that only want to stay in the job temporary as long as it suits them with little interest in the company and no intentions of making a career of it and then we have the Farlangs that require visas, work permits and usually end up leaving sooner or later anyway due to money and visa problems or commitments in their own countries. And then there are the laws that say a Farlang owed company has to hire a majority of Thai workers. So for a Farlang running a company in Thailand it must be a ginormous headache trying to keep it functional. Is it worth it?

[ozyjon]

Very interesting reading and opened my eyes to many unknowns,,,

there could be a reason for the phenomena though,

Quote,,,,,,,, "Thai people are F*****g stupid and lazy!"

While i tend to agree with that phrase, i think there's an underlying

reason for that,, many Thais come from rural areas looking for

work, some parents struggle to put the children through studies

some do succeed and get qualified but ask yourself, how hot is it

in Thailand right now, for us, get me into an air conditioned room,

for them, let me sit in the shade on a hammock and eat, seems they

are forever eating, if you follow the equatorial countries around the

world you hear the exact same stories, as an example, it's the same

in Angola, Mozambique, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea,

parts of the Philippines etc, the tropical heat hard wires some

people to slow down and not care very much.

[aronp1]

This is normal, nothing new here. Well, it is new to OP. Give it time,there's a lot more to learn.

[marcofunny]

Very interesting reading and opened my eyes to many unknowns,,,

there could be a reason for the phenomena though,

Quote,,,,,,,, "Thai people are F*****g stupid and lazy!"

While i tend to agree with that phrase, i think there's an underlying

reason for that,, many Thais come from rural areas looking for

work, some parents struggle to put the children through studies

some do succeed and get qualified but ask yourself, how hot is it

in Thailand right now, for us, get me into an air conditioned room,

for them, let me sit in the shade on a hammock and eat, seems they

are forever eating, if you follow the equatorial countries around the

world you hear the exact same stories, as an example, it's the same

in Angola, Mozambique, northern Australia, Papua New Guinea,

parts of the Philippines etc, the tropical heat hard wires some

people to slow down and not care very much.

worked in Malaysia and the Philippines for a year, people who quit all suddenly are less common place, especially with those semi-skilled or skilled workers who earns top wages, there were always 1 month or 2 weeks prior notice, the lack of motives of sales staff is also amazing indeed, had a staff who lost 80k commission from a sale so stupidly !!, I still remember this sales girl in the wine section of villa market pattaya who told me ( Mai mee) when I asked her about a fruity wine recommendation, the section had thousands of bottles !!!

Edited May 24, 2016 by marcofunny

[cyberfarang]

Pretty standard practice here, had droves of them disappear.

first indication is usually that they 'unfriend' the other staff members on facebook.

Had a number of them leave and never ask for their due salary.

In my experience Thai staff have a shelf life, they are OK when they arrive, although productivity around 20% of a western office is the best you can hope for.

Fast forward 6 months and they get surly, disinterested and the excuses start for days off or lateness.

Complete lack of ambition as a people: had people join as sales staff with an uncapped earnings structure and realistic minimum earnings of 50k if they put any effort in, then after 2 weeks they come and ask to be transferred to admin with a 10k salary.

Reasons have been: the office has aircon, I can eat with the other workers at lunchtime, I get a chair and a cushion (I shit you not), I only need 10k, and many more.

Had one girl who we had let stay with us until she got a place, when she split from her husband as she had no local family. Asked her to wipe a bird crap off the office window one day; "oh so that is my job now?" Never saw her again.

Asked one to empty the waste bin, never saw her again.

Told them that one person would have to stagger lunch one week in 5 to man the reception, 2 left next day saying "we can't eat lunch alone."

Had 14 people say they were coming to start on a Monday, never seen or heard of them to this day.

Had 12 leave without any warning in the 1st 2 weeks, never say a word, just disappear.

Almost every one of them has tried to steal data when leaving or by contacting staff after the fact.

When I first arrived and was asked what I thought of Thais, I used to say people are people: now I say lazy, often a bit stupid and untrustworthy.

Before the Thaier than Thai brigade pipe up about that last sentence; when I was starting the business my Thai wife, a graduate who had a good job in a successful Thai company, said it wouldn't be easy to run a business here. Her reason, and I quote "Thai people are F*****g stupid and lazy!"

What is it, some kind of real estate company working on commission? Are your staff guaranteed a basic wage even if sales are down?

How big is your company, how many staff do you have and what`s your average turnover per year? I guess it`s no Tesco Lotus or a 7/11. Why are you running a company in Thailand, is it because you have no other ways or supporting yourself?

If you feel so down on the Thais, why don`t you move location back to your own country and run a company with the super efficient Farlang staff and your genius Thai wife that believes most other Thais are inferior to her, so what can go wrong? If you try claiming that you`re doing Thailand a favour by making employment it`s obvious that you are wasting your time and they are not appreciating it, so why bother?

A happy ship is an efficient ship, and an efficient ship is a happy ship meaning having a reliable captain at the helm and a crew that respect and are loyal. Instead of listening to your graduate wife, why not go on a management course and discover what you are doing wrong?

[BKKdreaming]

........... management course and discover what you are doing wrong?

is there such a course that tells Thais how to deal with Thai employees ?

or do they know how to do it as its part of Thai culture ?

[marcofunny]

What is it, some kind of real estate company working on commission? Are your staff guaranteed a basic wage even if sales are down?

a cousin of mine who runs hotel chains in south America came to visit me in Bangkok once, he found by chance that a local Thai company is selling a remote control unit for aircon that his hotels are using for very competitive price, he called up the company and told them that he was interested to buy 800 units x 280 baht = 224,000 baht, guess what the Thai staff told him ?? call another time and prepare a quotation invoice ?? he said he doesn't have time and he wants to come to them in the office and will pay them in cash if possible, after 3 days of useless talking, we searched the web and found the head office of the company in HK we contacted them and we had the phone number of a Malaysian regional manager who was super helpful and he was very furious when he learned what the Thai staff had done and facilitated the transaction and later on it turned that this company was only 8 min walk from where my cousin was staying !!!

I even requested a special ID pass of some warehouse of my suppliers after I complained to them that their staff were always telling me(Mai mee - no Have) for every item even though the warehouse had enough supply, it also amazes me that I had spent 3 million baht buying some products from some Thai company and the staff didn't even learn my name and still calls me falang or even knows my email address or phone amazing sales team indeed !!

Edited May 24, 2016 by marcofunny

[BlindMagician]

during my 15 yrs working in Thailand, I ve experienced numerous Thai employees leaving their jobs and just disappearing without any prior notice to the company , the problem is they didn't complain about any particular problem, some of the jobs had good salaries above 45K per month, latest example is this Thai guy who were hired to work on a remote IT admin job, we were happy because he could speak decent English, after 3 months of wasting time training him, he just disappeared one day claiming that his leg were broken during a football match yet refusing to come to the company to even collect his remaining 8 days payment and asking us to wire it to him which we did, he s a fresh grad with no work experience, we agreed to pay him 48K per month during training time and 65K once he start working seriously with us, any clues why middle educated Thai do that ? this is not the first time.

This is quite common. They jump from job to job, better offers, getting training, doing no work, trying jobs to see what they might do in their career, then make a choice and settle down a bit.

The trait of never giving feedback is standard practise for them.

Don't worry, it isn't personal, it did not only happen to you.

[BlindMagician]

Pretty standard practice here, had droves of them disappear.

first indication is usually that they 'unfriend' the other staff members on facebook.

Had a number of them leave and never ask for their due salary.

In my experience Thai staff have a shelf life, they are OK when they arrive, although productivity around 20% of a western office is the best you can hope for.

Fast forward 6 months and they get surly, disinterested and the excuses start for days off or lateness.

Complete lack of ambition as a people: had people join as sales staff with an uncapped earnings structure and realistic minimum earnings of 50k if they put any effort in, then after 2 weeks they come and ask to be transferred to admin with a 10k salary.

Reasons have been: the office has aircon, I can eat with the other workers at lunchtime, I get a chair and a cushion (I shit you not), I only need 10k, and many more.

Had one girl who we had let stay with us until she got a place, when she split from her husband as she had no local family. Asked her to wipe a bird crap off the office window one day; "oh so that is my job now?" Never saw her again.

Asked one to empty the waste bin, never in saw her again.

Told them that one person would have to stagger lunch one week in 5 to man the reception, 2 left next day saying "we can't eat lunch alone."

Had 14 people say they were coming to start on a Monday, never seen or heard of them to this day.

Had 12 leave without any warning in the 1st 2 weeks, never say a word, just disappear.

Almost every one of them has tried to steal data when leaving or by contacting staff after the fact.

When I first arrived and was asked what I thought of Thais, I used to say people are people: now I say lazy, often a bit stupid and untrustworthy.

Before the Thaier than Thai brigade pipe up about that last sentence; when I was starting the business my Thai wife, a graduate who had a good job in a successful Thai company, said it wouldn't be easy to run a business here. Her reason, and I quote "Thai people are F*****g stupid and lazy!"

Yep, you really went against the grain didn't you...you got to know a bit about this culture to manage Thais. A whole series of newbie errors there.

[cyberfarang]

What is it, some kind of real estate company working on commission? Are your staff guaranteed a basic wage even if sales are down?

a cousin of mine who runs hotel chains in south America came to visit me in Bangkok once, he found by chance that a local Thai company is selling a remote control unit for aircon that his hotels are using for very competitive price, he called up the company and told them that he was interested to buy 800 units x 280 baht = 224,000 baht, guess what the Thai staff told him ?? call another time and prepare a quotation invoice ?? he said he doesn't have time and he wants to come to them in the office and will pay them in cash if possible, after 3 days of useless talking, we searched the web and found the head office of the company in HK we contacted them and we had the phone number of a Malaysian regional manager who was super helpful and he was very furious when he learned what the Thai staff had done and facilitated the transaction and later on it turned that this company was only 8 min walk from where my cousin was staying !!!

I even requested a special ID pass of some warehouse of my suppliers after I complained to them that their staff were always telling me(Mai mee - no Have) for every item even though the warehouse had enough supply, it also amazes me that I had spent 3 million baht buying some products from some Thai company and the staff didn't even learn my name and still calls me falang or even knows my email address or phone amazing sales team indeed !!

That`s not the fault of the staff, it`s the management that is to blame. I`ve been to loads of stores or tried to obtain services and no one seems to have a clue about anything or a take it or leave it attitudes, especially the big companies. It was the same in England. It is up to the management to set the customer services standards for their staff and if there is no proper communications between the heads of departments and their staff are left to get on with it then the end result is the type of non service your cousin experienced.

[PocoLoco]

cyberfarang, do you even own a business in Thailand? It doesn't sound like it.

[cyberfarang]

cyberfarang, do you even own a business in Thailand? It doesn't sound like it.

Not telling, but I am retired now on pensions and like to watch other people pay money into my account for doing absolutely nothing. Boring but a lot less stressful.