MrX Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 Not sure if it is worth writing this up since 'Koh samui and the kids didnt get read much'..then again ''the condo gang' was a brighter star so bear with me....... Nee lived on the eight floor of our condo when we moved here and she took in washing from just about everyone and evening time delivered it back pristinish usually for about ten baht an item. Nee's problem was (unbeknown to me then) that she lived with her younger sister Nok ( the mother of Jap and jop in 'Koh samui and the kids' ) and Nok didnt like living in a laundry......understandably one might say...... Nee was Jap and Jop's real affective mother while Nok was sexy and wild and had hooked a fading aristocrat for a partner....... One morning in june of last year I was dropping my washing off and I found Nee tearfully ironing and much less talkative than usual.......It transpired that Nok's way of complainng about her sister was by forcing Nee to pay all the bills , buy the kids food, clothes etc which was hard on a washerwoman's takings and all...this could not go on and Nee was about to throw in the towel and go an live with another sister in BangNa...lose her thriving business and most painful of all lose her adopted daughters.... Coincidentally we needed a maid/nanny we could trust, to free me up from chores and teach Kit..... So Nee was employed by us at 7000 baht a month, to keep house, look after Kit as and when necessary and as part of the deal she had to find her own apartment in the building and would get to continue her freelance washing activities from there when she wasnt busy with us... perhaps (un)surprizingly this arrangement worked quite well for many months.....we got a clean house and clean clothes thrown in...I had time to teach Kit.....Jap and Jop kept their adoptive mother in the building...Nok got her house back.......even if she did now have to pay her own bills...... all this until we went to Koh samui... She was so happy to have a holiday and she worked and worked to clear the backlog of ours and other's washing right up to the day we left..but, though not telling anyone, she was unable to finish..... She did though kindly say to my wife, who had work commitments and could not come away with us, that she had arranged for a lady on the tenth floor to do her washing while she was on holiday...... The week passed pleasantly and peacefully in the condo for my wife ( only those who know family life will also know how exquisite it can be when it is temporarily suspended!) and the lady on the tenth floor would accept no payment for the clean laundry which included Nee's hitherto undeclared backlog........Nee had though of everything, Nee would take care of everything she said.... Except that when we got back and Nee came to clean house the next monday morning she billed my wife 500 baht on behalf of the washerwoman of the tenth floor... This bill has pissed my wife off mightily and we are wondering what to do........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 Hi Rompandadam, Seems to me that she wants to collect during her holiday for another person's sweat and effort. Your wife has all the right to be pissed off. Being in your situation I'd explain this maid my reason for not paying and ditch her if she even thinks about complaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiLuk Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Most likely the tenth floor lady billed your maid and hating the idea of paying a large bill out of her pocket, she passed it on to you. Its obviously your fault for bringing her to koh samui when she could have stayed home working Anyway, a foolish mistake by your maid, she should know this would piss off your wife. If you were alone in this, very easy to just pay her the 500baht and put it behind you, afterall she is perfect in every other way. IMO, this is where the reasonable Mr Farang has to explain to the wife (i'm assuming she is thai) that this is not a reason to fire a dedicated worker (and semi-member of the family?). To satisfy the wife you will have to explain to the maid that you cannot pay the bill (Mr Reasonable Farang again). Let us know how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted April 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 good 'take'.... though my wife is falang incidentally Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Zaad's right on! She is pretty cheeky doing that, especially seeing that you took her on holiday AND she makes a LOT of money as your maid. I and my other expat friends pay our live-in maids B3500 (most, including us) to B5000 (high) per month! Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted April 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 ................am vaguely aware of the figures you quote and ABSOLUTELY without wishing to criticize you or your friends directly, it does seem just ant's eggs to live on in this fair city.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 I guess a good question is, is it worth 500THB to keep a good maid...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 This bill has pissed my wife off mightily and we are wondering what to do........ ...still wondering or have measures been taken already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted April 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 sorry to leave you on tenterhooks. Ok so there has been general domestic tightening up but no specific confrontation about the 500 ..Thai style right?...I mean Nee had been tending to come later and later every morning to clean though the original idea was eight o'clock which fits in well with our family routines and my wife is insisting she turn up early as agreed. Also this last time she went to the supermarket my wife gave her a measly 400 baht instead of the usual 1000 and wanted to see the bill after etc. We did run the 500 past our good friend Mon who doubles as sage and sphinx during our Thai sojurn and she muttered darkly 'mai dii ' but neither proposed a specific remedy nor her intervention which she often does when we have panhaa..so I thought again Thai style.......I guess you are realizing from my posts peppering different forums we are a bunch of softies..... especially me. Oh well nobody died!... I always think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Hmm...your maid's attitude has change a lot since her Samui trip according to your post. Not only affecting her work but also you and your wife's mutual trust (and respect?) towards her. Sorry to ask, but has anything happened on that little island that you're aware of between you and her that may have had an negative impact on her current behavior? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.