There is no dedicated staffing agency on Koh Chang — or in Trat town on the mainland. Hiring here runs through villa and resort housekeeping, your landlord, and the island's expat community. Here is the honest guide: where to find help, typical THB rates, legal and visa rules, and how ferry logistics and monsoon-season turnover shape live-in vs live-out arrangements.
Koh Chang's rental market leans heavily toward furnished villas, houses and bungalows around White Sand Beach, Klong Prao, Kai Bae, Lonely Beach and Bang Bao rather than condo towers, and it's honest to say upfront: there's no dedicated maid agency or on-demand cleaning app on the island — and unusually, none confirmed in Trat town on the mainland either, a small provincial hub rather than a staffing centre. Most residents find household help through villa and resort housekeeping referrals, their landlord or property manager, or the island's expat Facebook and LINE groups. The nearest established agencies are in Pattaya or Bangkok, roughly 4–5 hours away via the Ao Thammachat car ferry — a real but expensive fallback for a hard-to-fill live-in role, not a routine option. Because the island is ferry-dependent and sees genuine seasonal staff turnover during the May–October monsoon low season, a strong personal referral matters more here than almost anywhere else BAANLYY covers. This guide covers where to look, what it costs, the legal rules, and live-in vs live-out logistics.
Koh Chang's long-stay housing is overwhelmingly furnished bungalows, houses and villas rather than condo towers — see the Koh Chang movers and rental-market guides — so villa-management and resort housekeeping teams around White Sand Beach, Klong Prao and Kai Bae often know an experienced cleaner looking for extra private work. This is the most reliable route to a vetted candidate on the island.
Most Koh Chang rentals already come with some caretaker involvement, and a landlord or property manager usually knows a dependable local cleaner already working nearby — a low-risk starting point, and it sidesteps the language barrier.
The island's long-stay expat community, concentrated around White Sand Beach, Klong Prao, Kai Bae and Lonely Beach, is a genuine source of referrals — maids advertise directly and departing expats recommend trusted help before they leave. Cheapest option, but you handle all vetting, references and paperwork yourself.
There is no dedicated domestic-staffing agency confirmed on Koh Chang itself — and unusually, none confirmed in Trat town on the mainland either, which is a small provincial hub rather than a staffing centre. The nearest established agencies are in Pattaya or Bangkok, both roughly 4–5 hours away via the Ao Thammachat car ferry and a long road transfer. A handful will discuss a live-in placement for the right fee, but treat this as a rare, expensive fallback for a hard-to-fill live-in role — not a realistic routine channel the way a nearby-city agency is for other BAANLYY destinations.
| Arrangement | Typical rate |
|---|---|
| Part-time cleaner via referral (per visit, 2–3 hrs) | THB 180–280 / hour |
| One-off deep clean (per visit) | THB 1,000–2,200 |
| Weekly live-out maid (once a week, ~4 hrs) | THB 1,500–3,500 / month |
| Daily live-out maid (full-time, ~6 days) | THB 8,000–13,000 / month |
| Live-in maid / housekeeper | THB 8,000–14,000 / month + room & board |
| English-speaking or cook/childcare live-in | THB 11,000–17,000+ / month |
Since there's no agency or app price list locally, these are direct-hire market rates. Expect to pay more for English fluency, cooking or a driving licence, and if you do reach out to a Pattaya or Bangkok agency for a live-in placement, budget an agency fee (often half to one month's salary) plus travel costs on top of these figures.
| Worker type | What applies |
|---|---|
| Thai staff | Thai nationals doing domestic work don't need anything special from you as an employer. |
| Migrant workers | Must hold valid work documents — many resort and villa support staff on Koh Chang are migrant workers; confirm status before hiring anyone directly for household work. |
| Foreign (non-Thai) helpers | A foreign live-in helper legally requires a proper work permit and matching visa. Employing an undocumented foreign worker is illegal and risky, and with no local agency to check this for you, the responsibility falls on you as the employer. |
| Entitlements | Thailand's rules give live-in and full-time domestic staff basic entitlements — a weekly day off, public holidays and paid annual leave. A year-end (13th-month) bonus of around one month's pay is customary for long-serving live-in helpers. |
General information only, not legal advice — rules and enforcement change, so confirm current requirements before hiring a migrant or foreign worker.
A live-in maid or housekeeper suits Koh Chang's villas and larger houses well — available across the day, and it sidesteps the friction of commuting across a hilly, spread-out island reached only by the Ao Thammachat car ferry. A live-out maid gives more privacy but works best when she already lives in or near your area (White Sand Beach, Klong Prao, Kai Bae, Lonely Beach or Bang Bao); asking someone to travel a long distance across the island for a part-time role is often impractical given the internal roads and transport options. The May–October monsoon low season adds another wrinkle most mainland guides don't need to mention: real staff turnover, as some resort and villa workers leave the island or change jobs between seasons — build in time to re-hire or re-vet around that window, and don't assume a staffing arrangement made in high season will carry over automatically.
No — BAANLYY found no dedicated domestic-staffing agency based on the island, and unusually, none confirmed in Trat town on the mainland either, which functions as a small provincial hub rather than a staffing centre. Most residents hire through villa and resort housekeeping referrals, a landlord or property manager, or the island's expat Facebook and LINE groups. The nearest established agencies are in Pattaya or Bangkok, roughly 4–5 hours away — a real but expensive and impractical fallback, not a routine option.
A part-time cleaner via referral runs about THB 180–280 an hour, and a one-off deep clean roughly THB 1,000–2,200. A weekly live-out maid is about THB 1,500–3,500 a month; a full-time daily live-out maid THB 8,000–13,000; and a live-in maid or housekeeper about THB 8,000–14,000 a month plus room and board. English-speaking staff or those who also cook or mind children run THB 11,000–17,000+. These are 2026 guide ranges (≈ THB 35–36 = USD 1) — confirm current rates locally, since there's no agency price list to check against.
Thai staff need nothing special from you. Migrant workers — common among resort and villa support staff on the island — must hold valid work documents. A foreign (non-Thai) helper legally requires a proper work permit and matching visa; employing an undocumented foreign worker is illegal and carries real risk. Rules and enforcement change, and with no local agency to lean on, confirm current requirements directly with Thai Immigration or a qualified adviser before hiring — this is general information, not legal advice.
Two compounding factors: Koh Chang is reached only by the Ao Thammachat car ferry rather than a bridge, which limits how easily off-island agency staff can be placed here, and the island's May–October monsoon low season sees real seasonal turnover among resort and villa staff, some of whom leave the island or switch jobs between seasons. Both make a strong personal referral — through a villa manager, landlord or the expat groups — more valuable here than it would be somewhere with a local agency doing the vetting for you.
Live-in help suits Koh Chang's villas and larger houses well, since it avoids the friction of a helper commuting across a hilly, spread-out island with patchy internal transport — see the Koh Chang safety and getting-around guides. Live-out help works best when the person already lives in or very near your area (White Sand Beach, Klong Prao, Kai Bae, Lonely Beach or Bang Bao); asking someone to travel a long distance across the island for a part-time role is often impractical, so most live-out arrangements are hired from within the same village rather than island-wide.
Primary and official sources are cited above. Government rules, fees and procedures in Thailand change over time and vary by office; always confirm current requirements with the relevant authority before relying on them. BAANLYY never takes paid placement in editorial content.
Koh Chang movers & relocation guide · Koh Chang elderly & nursing care · Koh Chang rental market · Koh Chang hub
Find a villa or bungalow, then sort household help through the island's referral network.
Hero photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels. General information only, not legal advice; rates, availability and work-permit rules change — confirm current details before hiring.