Mae baan (live-in maid)

[Jase]

A bit of a long shot finding someone online, but we are looking for a mae baan to live and work with us.

Aside from cleaning, the main duty is to look after my 12 year old son and our three small dogs when we're not home. Hopefully she'd enjoy helping my wife do a bit of gardening and cooking exotic dishes such as cheese sandwiches and fish, chips and peas.

We are located out near Sam Phrao and have a 'normal' sized three bedroomed house. The mae baan would have a nice room with telly and A/C.

I told the wife that they should be paying us to stay in such luxury, but a salary is indeed on offer and would need to be discussed.

[TJ]

This a most interesting request for information (about acquiring a live-in-maid or similar) as I have been considering retirement to Thailand and likely Udon Thani. I am single, financially secure and in my seventies. Likely I would rent a quality 3- or 4-bedroom suburban home which would allow for offering a Thai woman or married couple housing and payment for performing household and grounds-keeping chores. I would also prefer a Thai who could drive a car as I am most reluctant to do so myself in Thailand. Rudimentary English is necessary.

Hopefully there will be postings by sources that provide relevant knowledge and experiences such as:

How would one go about searching for and vetting potential candidates?

What background information should you require or expect?

Are live-in service positions common and do respectable Thais seek such positions?

What pay and other benefits are common or to be negotiated?

What problems are to be expected and possibly avoided?

Would it be much better to limit the position to daily or as-required rather than live-in?

[newtovillagelife]

A bit of a long shot finding someone online, but we are looking for a mae baan to live and work with us.

Aside from cleaning, the main duty is to look after my 12 year old son and our three small dogs when we're not home. Hopefully she'd enjoy helping my wife do a bit of gardening and cooking exotic dishes such as cheese sandwiches and fish, chips and peas.

We are located out near Sam Phrao and have a 'normal' sized three bedroomed house. The mae baan would have a nice room with telly and A/C.

I told the wife that they should be paying us to stay in such luxury, but a salary is indeed on offer and would need to be discussed.

Many Thais have A/C, and a TV, or were you being sarcastic....slavery is over, show her the money!!!!

[GT93]

A couple of wealthy Thai households near our house in Udon have used Lao girls as maids over the years. That might be quite common. They've usually looked around their early 20s and been attractive girls. They've usually stayed just a year or two.

[Jase]

I'm not sure a young Laotian girl would be a stellar idea.

I was thinking more along the lines of a Thai widower in her 50s.

[Old Grumpy]

Just my experiences, maybe you will be luckier. firstly my wife didn't want a domestic, whether living in or out, her reasononing was they will never understand how a farang wants his house clean .How right she was, the first we engaged used to wander around the house, one hand behind back flicking the broom everywhere and of course the dust, when I told her I paid her salary for two hands, she upped and left, her replacement was told before engagement why the other one left and used both hands, good, but she had a problem with her neck I think as she never managed to lift her head up beyond the normal eye level, consequently was never able to see dirt on anything above that, got booted after 3 days .The next was an ex hotel maid so very used to the standard expected by this fussy farang, good for two weeks then discovered she had prised the bottom off my wifes jewelry box and stolen a few but special items from it, later recovered two expensive rings worth around 50k baht each which she had pawned for 500bht each in a shop well known to the police, who even had the cheek to ask me for his money back when I recovered them from him .Even after all that my wife persevered and engaged another , recommended by a good friend, all went well until we went back to the Uk for a couple of months and on our return found a sign hanging on the gate, offering massage service, she had been using our room to massaage every tom , dick or harry that paid her 300bht for a massage .God knows what else went on we never found out .That was the final straw we went out and bought the most up todate cleaning appliannces and my wife is a happy bunny doing the cleaning to both her and my own standard .Just a personal experience, you may be luckier .

[Giggle]

^ Hahaha, Very good. We tried the same. It was a disaster. Lasted about three days.

[saint]

Just my experiences, maybe you will be luckier. firstly my wife didn't want a domestic, whether living in or out, her reasononing was they will never understand how a farang wants his house clean .How right she was, the first we engaged used to wander around the house, one hand behind back flicking the broom everywhere and of course the dust, when I told her I paid her salary for two hands, she upped and left, her replacement was told before engagement why the other one left and used both hands, good, but she had a problem with her neck I think as she never managed to lift her head up beyond the normal eye level, consequently was never able to see dirt on anything above that, got booted after 3 days .The next was an ex hotel maid so very used to the standard expected by this fussy farang, good for two weeks then discovered she had prised the bottom off my wifes jewelry box and stolen a few but special items from it, later recovered two expensive rings worth around 50k baht each which she had pawned for 500bht each in a shop well known to the police, who even had the cheek to ask me for his money back when I recovered them from him .Even after all that my wife persevered and engaged another , recommended by a good friend, all went well until we went back to the Uk for a couple of months and on our return found a sign hanging on the gate, offering massage service, she had been using our room to massaage every tom , dick or harry that paid her 300bht for a massage .God knows what else went on we never found out .That was the final straw we went out and bought the most up todate cleaning appliannces and my wife is a happy bunny doing the cleaning to both her and my own standard .Just a personal experience, you may be luckier .

Wow , You run a tight ship over there Grumpy .
I hope you get her to box the bedding every morning , and you wear your white gloves when inspecting the surfaces .

[Old Grumpy]

.

Wow , You run a tight ship over there Grumpy .
I hope you get her to box the bedding every morning , and you wear your white gloves when inspecting the surfaces .

As an ex military man I must admit following my mothers addict that " cleanliness is next to godliness" but fortunately my Thai wife has rapidly adopted my standards, so much so I now get told off for as little as a crumb on the floor when eating a cake, as for the bedding well not enough of it to box, but it certainly musn't appear creased. I know I must be hell to live with but she loves me .

[Jase]

Nice to read some real-life experiences!

We have all the gear (industrial vacuum cleaner, proper washing machine, dishwasher, etc) - the main need is so we know there is someone home to look after the animals (son & dogs), so we can do stuff we want to do and disappear on the bike whenever we feel like it.

We do have an aunt with a hubby who is recovering from a stroke. They might be our best option.

[Old Grumpy]

Nice to read some real-life experiences!
.
.

We do have an aunt with a hubby who is recovering from a stroke. They might be our best option.

Beware if the aunt is older than your lady. Thai tradition dictates that a younger family member will always be subservient to an elder. In your case that would mean your lady will never tell her how to go about the job, never criticise her mistakes and more than likely end up doing the job herself , and if you step in, you'll end up being the bad man .I've been there too.

[Jase]

^ Ha ha! You've not met my missus. She doesn't take any nonsense from 'these people'.