Wages of construction labourers

[huahincharlie]

I have been quoted a daily rate for a team of Thai labourers to build a basic concrete wall. The rate is around 360 Baht per day.

I have seen the quality of their previous work and it looks fine, but the rate sounds a little high for the labour work.

Is it unreasonable to expect the rate to be lower? Thanks.

[johnnyk]

What is your question?
Individual daily rate?
Team rate?
How many workers? etc etc

[huahincharlie]

What is your question?
Individual daily rate?
Team rate?
How many workers? etc etc

It's a day-rate per person of around 360. My question is to ask whether this is a usual rate for labourers.

I have not been able to get a fixed price for the entire job. These people have done some work for me before but the rate has been increased quite a lot since a few months ago. Their work is ok but nothing special.

[johnnyk]

What is your question?
Individual daily rate?
Team rate?
How many workers? etc etc

It's a day-rate per person of around 360. My question is to ask whether this is a usual rate for labourers.

I have not been able to get a fixed price for the entire job. These people have done some work for me before but the rate has been increased quite a lot since a few months ago. Their work is ok but nothing special.

Seems a bit high to me. I think 150-200 is more the norm and if I remember correctly the official minimum wage is 150/day now. But many unscrupulous builders use illegal Lao and Burmese labourers @ 100/day sometimes less if they can get away with it.
It's small money so if the work on other projects is good I'd pay a bit more. Buy beer for the team at day's end.... but not before!!!!

Chok dee

[hhfarang]

I think 150-200 is more the norm

In my own experience, 300 is the expected norm in Hua Hin, 150 to 200 would be ok in Issan or other rural areas but they may not accept that here. Of course if you are providing them with a place to live, food, or other benefits during the life of the job (as some builders provide a place to live on site) then a lower rate may be acceptable. If they are not living on site, remember whatever you pay them has to pay for their transport costs to and from the job every day.

[littlebird]

I think it is too high
I would stick to a price for the entire job and if they won't give one, get someone else.
An hourly rate with no timescale will leave you with an unfinished job - what if they take 3 weeks to do the job at Thai speed ?

[crazy88]

Careful paying day rates on all but the smallest of jobs or 7 days work will turn into 15. Same in the UK. Wall should be quoted per linear metre quite easily plus a fixed price for clearing and preparing as required.

Crazy 88

[charlesh]

I thought the minimum wage had been adjusted in Feb to around 280 bht/day

[STEVE G]

Obviously it costs more to hire someone through a company than it does to hire them directly as you have to take into account the costs and profits of that company.
Having said that I would get a quote for a wall by the metre as mentioned above.

[H2ODunc]

JEEZ people you are whinging about paying a guy to work in the sun for a day and are complaining about paying them around 8 POUNDS a day. Would you do it ?
Yes you can get cheaper labour. BUT! You pay peanuts and you get monkeys !

[Super Joe]

Would agree with getting a fixed price for the job, or per linear meter, if they say they can't give you a price I wouldn't believe them. It may be that they don't want to (or can't afford to) put cash upfront for the materials, so may want a deposit.

Price per linear metre for a regular 2m high wall, of blockwork, s.r.concrete columns (posts) and footings, s.r.concrete ground beam & top 'cap', rendered both sides often works out in the 1,800-2,100 Baht/lm range. You can get cheaper, and more expensive I guess. If you do go the price way, you just need to agree a brief spec for things like footing depths, rebar size, height, column centres etc, just incase they try and cut corners. I've found all Thai building contractors fair if it's clear in black & white, if not then the temptation may be too much for some.

Pic, you can't see the ground level concrete beam, it's just below driveway:

On the labour front I know our builders get 9,000/month from the company boss, so give or take that's 300 Baht, but also transport, accomodation & power tools like drills, grinders and whathaveyou. As people have said, when working on day rate they will not be going very fast, unless they have somewhere to go.

I think anything around 300 Baht is fair enough if their work is good enough and they're 'fast' enough, they're not labourers imo, and also shouldn't be directly related to the minumum wage. They're 'tradesmen', relative to Thailand, and will be brick laying and rendering, something you wouldn't want a labourer to do. Also if they're the same as every other builder I've seen, they will do a bit of everything during the course of a full house build, ie: plumbing, running electric conduits, tiling, painting etc.

You usually get the 'specialist' electricians (cos they're still alive ), welders, tilers & carpenters working from day 1 on a full build doing every other tradework, with everyone else. So some of these guys, if they're a building team, maybe reasonably skilled.

SJ

[huahincharlie]

Thanks to all for the feedback. I just wanted to check the daily rate, and it seems that 300 Baht per day is perhaps normal. I cannot get a fixed price unfortunately, and he seemed a little guarded about telling me the price of one other customer's similar job.

Basically, all their jobs are charged on a day-rate basis, with 360 Baht per day for each of the six workers, plus around 2,000 Baht per day for the foreign overseer. Out of his 2,000 Baht, he does the running-around ordering the materials etc. and obviously spends part of this on diesel. I don't feel he's overcharging, if I really think about it, and if he were a Thai owner, he'd probably find ways of charging that amount too, but perhaps less openly.

I have also seen around Hua Hin, some pre-cast concrete beams that have become popular for building walls. I don't know the price for them, but they are about two metres in length, by 40cm high. These slot into posts with cut-outs in left and right sides of the posts. Four beams make a normal-height wall, with the concrete capping at the top and the foundation at the bottom. I like the look of them but they might be more expensive than blocks - I have to find out.

[hhfarang]

I have also seen around Hua Hin, some pre-cast concrete beams that have become popular for building walls. I don't know the price for them, but they are about two metres in length, by 40cm high. These slot into posts with cut-outs in left and right sides of the posts. Four beams make a normal-height wall, with the concrete capping at the top and the foundation at the bottom. I like the look of them but they might be more expensive than blocks - I have to find out.

Yes, I think that is called "ready fence". I don't know who supplies it or constructs it but it is what they used around the military golf course at Sea Pines beach and I was amazed at how fast they put it up (the golf course covers a huge area on both sides of the highway and all the way to the beach).

[Big Boy]

I'm sure there's a thread on here about that ready fence stuff somewhere.

[littlebird]

I would ask a Thai friend to negotiate the price accepting that you will always pay a white skin premium.