How we mystery-shop agencies and verify the law

This page explains how we research everything on maidthailand.com, who pays for it, and how to hold us to it. If a guide on this site recommends an agency, this is the standard it had to clear first.

The four steps behind every recommendation

We do not list agencies. We review them, and we only review an agency after completing the steps below. On each agency review we mark which steps we have finished and which we have not — so you are never told more than we actually know.

1. We mystery-shop the agency

We contact every agency we cover as a real employer with a real household. We pay placement fees and trial costs from our own budget. We never tell an agency we are writing about them before the engagement is complete, and we never accept a discount, a free placement, or a commission in exchange for coverage.

2. We interview the workers

Wherever we can, we talk to current and former domestic workers placed by the agency — in their first language, through a translator vetted by an NGO partner when needed. We ask what they were charged, what they were promised, and whether their contract matched their pay.

3. We verify the paperwork

We check the documents that protect a worker: the work permit, MOU compliance for Myanmar, Lao and Cambodian workers, the written contract required under Ministerial Regulation No. 15, and any broker-fee disclosures. Where a fact is a matter of law, we cite the primary source — the Royal Gazette, the Ministry of Labour, the Department of Employment, the ILO, or the IOM — not a secondary blog.

4. We publish, date, and update

Every guide carries a named editor, a publication date, a "last updated" date, and a list of the sources we used. When the law changes — and Thai labour law for domestic workers changed materially in 2024 and again in 2025 — we update the page and note what changed. If we get something wrong, we correct it in public rather than quietly editing it away.

Who pays for this

Agencies pay us for qualified introductions through our concierge service. Employers never pay. Workers never pay, and never will. No agency can buy a better review, a higher ranking, or removal of a criticism. The introductions our concierge makes are based on fit for what an employer asked for, not on who pays the most.

How to correct us

If you are an agency, a worker, or an employer and you believe a guide on this site is inaccurate, tell us. We would rather fix an error than defend one. Corrections that change a material fact are noted on the page with the date of the change.

What we will not do

• We will not publish a "best agency" review we have not actually mystery-shopped.
• We will not invent salary figures, survey numbers, testimonials, or partnerships.
• We will not ask a worker for money, and we will not work with anyone who does.