@Lee **********

better than most employers.

@Lee **********

a full day's work is <400 THB, but will soon be passed into law.

@Vin ********

a studio here in Phuket town is 2,500 THB, a dish of fried rice, made to order is 60. Three meals a day, 3 X 60 = 180, and for the month, 30 X 180 = 5,400. Add room and board, 2,500 + 5,400 = 7,900. Now add water and electricity, estimated at 1,000, so the total comes to mear 9,000 THB. At present, minimum wage is about 360 X 30 = 10,800. There is money leftover for transport, and other minor expenses. I personally know expats who brag about living on 18-20k THB/mo, and they live much better than the local guy.

@Kimberly ******

thanks for the details on the real life up North (then South). A lot of folks believe paradise is paradise 100% of the time. Have heard for years how CM turns into a smoking hell for half a year. Difficult to correlate the resulting casualties that come later.

@Steve *****

true!

@Steve *****

that's a common truth that applies to common situations. For the common task of trimming the garden bushes, a 1500 THB gardener cannot possibly trim the bushes three times better than the 500 one. They call this "the point of diminishing returns".

@Francis ********

I have been told factories near BKK will pay 250 a day while new employees are in their 3 mo "evaluation" period , after which they are let go and replaced by new recruits.

@Francis ********

not yet approved by law. Soon.

@Regina *********

it is *them* that want the work. I personally have nothing to do with it. By the way, I met a man who worked as a gardener in a plant and flower shop, daily, for seven years. One day he asked his local boss for a few days off to visit his family in the province. He was swiftly fired.

The LOS gov is considering raising daily min wage to 400 THB per day, so a gardener would be tickled pink if you gave him 500 for a day's work. Assuming that the live-in help was there daily, 30 days a month, 30 X 400 = 12,000 THB, or $330. A employee earns about that much. Your being "cheap" is nobody's business. Your survival is more important.