Getting A Maid In Thailand

 

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Getting a maid in ThailandWhen I lived in a house share in London my rent included a cleaner who visited once a week and cleaned all the communal areas of the house. It was great, no wasted hours spent with a sponge in my hand. When I moved to Thailand I was left to do all of these chores myself and to be honest it isn’t really that fun.

Getting a Maid in Thailand is something many expats and locals consider. After a few false starts I decided last month to research it and find out how much it would cost and where the best place to get a maid was.

Types of Maids

First things first, you need to decide what type of maid you want. I’m not talking about the looks and age although you can specify this with some agencies as you will see later….

As my girlfriend will tell you my cleaning knowledge is rather limited. I run around my condo with a broom and spray some water in the bathroom and kitchen when I clean. For me cleaning is cleaning but when it comes to getting a maid in Thailand there are many types.

After talking to maids and researching the below is a list of services they offered:

  • General House Cleaning
  • Housekeeping – Laundry/ Cooking/Ironing/Dishes
  • Nanny/Babysitting
  • Escorted Travel For Children (school runs etc)
  • Shopping
  • Move In / Move Out Cleaning

There are many others related to office cleaning but for these the best bet is to speak with one of the maid agencies below.

Full Time / Part Time / Live In

cleaning-268112_640Another big consideration when getting a maid in Thailand is if you are looking for a full time live in maid or a part time maid. Most of the maid agencies focus on the full time option and for many people it might not be suitable.

Full time usually means the maid works 5 or 6 days a week. Part time can mean anything from a one time event through to 3 or 4 visits per week. Live in means that the maid will live in your house / condo and will work 6 days a week.

Personally I don’t need someone everyday and even once a week is not necessary. I would suggest for most people living in a condo the average visit will be once every 1 or 2 weeks. If you live in a house then the likelihood is that you need someone to visit more regularly and if they are providing housekeeping / babysitting services then the full time / live in option becomes more attractive.

Where You Live

I quickly found out geography was a major factor in the type of maid you can get. If you live along the BTS / MRT line in Bangkok then the world is your oyster, if you live further than a 10 minute walk away then things become more limited.

If you live in a major town such as Pattaya or Chiang Mai then you will have more options than if you live in a rural area or even just a few KM outside a large town.

I live about 15km from the nearest BTS / MRT station so it severely limited the options of getting a maid.

House or Condo

There are different rates for cleaning houses and condos. The average 40sq meter condo takes a lot less time than a standard 3 bedroom townhouse.

Fully cleaning the average condo will take around 3 hours whereas a townhouse can be upwards of half a day to clean every room.

So now you have the basics sorted lets look at where you can get your maid from.

Maid Agencies

My first step when approaching this task was browsing the internet and looking at companies such as Borigarn , Maid Delivery and Millennium Maid ServiceThey were the first three companies who showed up on Google when searching “Bangkok Maids”. Initially I was quite impressed with their websites but became frustrated when trying to find a price.

I understand that prices do vary but in order to get a price you need to submit your information and wait for a quote. As I was looking for someone to just come and clean my place for 3 or 4 hours every week or two I thought it would be possible to get a price online straight away.

euro-870757_640The only prices they do list on their site are for monthly live in or monthly part time cleaners. For a monthly live in cleaner you are looking at around 8-12K per month plus a service charge to the agency which can be an extra 3-4K depending on the service you chose.

Looking further into these services they often require an initial visit and meeting with prospective maids and a company representative. For me it just seemed like a waste of time but if you are a family or take your cleaning seriously it will be worth your time to meet the agency and fully discuss your needs.

Another agency, Ayasangave me a price on their website and let me book an appointment – everything seemed great. It was until they called me later and said I was too far away from central Bangkok and therefore couldn’t use their service.

The thing I did like about Ayasan was that they had information about all the different maids they offered including their language ability and experience. Interestingly a lot of maids come from Myanmar where generally English levels are higher.

The major benefit of using an agency is that the maids come with references and the agency controls everything. You pay your money and you get the service. The quality of these maids should, in theory, be very high and they offer you the chance to change your maid if you aren’t happy with the service you receive.

Condo / Village Service

chaos-227971_640A lot of condominiums and villages have maids available on a part time basis. You can usually speak to someone in the office and they will give you a rate.

The benefit of this option is that you get someone who is already working on site so you won’t get rejected for travel reasons. Also the maid will most likely be familiar with the room layout and know what needs to be done. There is likely to be more flexibility in terms of scheduling and you wont need to have a meeting or interview – your maid will start working straight away.

In terms of drawbacks the biggest issue is with the cleaning times. The maid is employed by the village or condo and will have other duties such as cleaning communal areas so the cleaning time might be in the evening which isn’t suitable for everyone.

The other drawback I have encountered is the price the maids ask for. At my condo the maid wanted 1,500 Baht for 3 hours of cleaning. Whilst I appreciate there is a cost of having a maid I certainly don’t think it is 500 Baht an hour. Perhaps the maids at your condo will try and ask for a similar price or perhaps there is a set rate charge by the management.

Work Maid

cleaning-lady-258520_640In the end I got my maid through my job. Where I work there are two maids and I heard through other staff members that they do extra jobs in their free time.

I am not best friends with the maids but I have known them for over 2 years and always have a little chat with them. One of benefits is that I feel more comfortable having them in my house to clean than a complete stranger. I also had the reassurance of good reviews of them from my other co-workers who had used them in the past.

In terms of potential problems I guess it would be very awkward if you felt they weren’t doing a good job or needed to make changes as you would have to work with them in the future. Also if you maid is employed full time at another job it might be difficult to find a suitable time for them to clean.

Another issue you might have is the language barrier. As I work at an English school my maid can speak basic English and I also have my Thai girlfriend to help. Maybe the maid at your company cant speak any English and if you’re single / cant speak Thai it may prove very difficult to arrange for them to come clean.

Craigslist

There are lots of ads and wanted ads on Craigslist for maids but as with anything on Craigslist you should be careful. back-pain-1491801_640Many of the adverts are for women looking to make money as a maid/massage therapist/anything else they can do for you. I’m sure there are some using Craigslist with good intentions but I’m also sure some aren’t so buyer beware.

The option might be good as you can post a wanted ad but I’m not sure how many potential maids are going to be browsing Craigslist or can read English. Most likely an agency will contact you to offer their services.

I would suggest Craigslist and other similar online sites as a final resort if you cant find a maid through other methods.

How Much Should I Pay?

Despite being in Thailand for over 3 years I am still not sure what is a fair rate of pay for people doing work for me. I had a look on Google and there was a wide range of prices being paid by people. On average for a small-medium size condo people are paying around 500 Baht for 2-3 hours cleaning. These prices were paid to maids who worked at the condo.

cost-1174936_640Using an agency the price will be more expensive. As above a full time live in maid will cost around 12-18K a month when you add on the agency service charges. The agencies do offer part time maids who come two or three times a week and the cost is around 10K per month for this.

For me I didn’t discuss price with my maid and after 4 hours of cleaning she charged 500 baht. My condo is 64msq so a bit larger than average but there was enough time for her to clean everything.

One thing to note is the price doesn’t include the cleaning materials so you will have to buy these yourself prior to the maid coming over. You can ask them before the visit what they think they will need.

Getting A Maid In Thailand

Getting a maid in Thailand isn’t expensive if you don’t need a live in maid or one who visits more than twice per week. Getting someone in once a week won’t cost you the earth and will save you a lot of time.

If you need a full time live in maid then chances are you have a family or perhaps just a lot of money! For most of us there isn’t the need for someone to be cleaning, cooking and ironing all day everyday. For this reason I would suggest that the agencies aren’t the best option for most expats in Thailand, especially those living in condos.

Speak to your condo management / landlord or to the maids at your office and you will get a better deal for casual cleaning services.

About Richard 176 Articles
British guy living and working in Bangkok, Thailand since 2013. Running LifeInANewCountry.com teaching and writer of Settling in Thailand expat book.

3 Comments

  1. I think your article is useful, I was office worker I’m quit the job to be freelance, I love to get part time work as a cleaner.
    Experienced in 5 star hotel (I was a trainee and become guest LOL)
    this year 2019 I am freelance cleaner for expat in Pattaya, I work for Amarican gentleman 2 times/ week, anyone wants maid contact me 061 681 8007 Nice day!!

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