Where to find a cleaner, housekeeper or nanny in Krabi — from condo and villa referrals and the Ao Nang and Koh Lanta expat groups to live-in agencies — what each costs, live-in versus live-out, where to source by area, the work-permit rules that matter, and how to vet before you hire. Rates are 2026 guide ranges in Thai baht (≈ THB 35–36 = USD 1).
Household help is affordable and widely used in Krabi, and a little cheaper here than in Bangkok or Phuket. You can bring in a weekly maid, arrange a part-time cleaner through your building, or hire a full-time live-in housekeeper or nanny — especially for the villas around Klong Muang, Tubkaak and Nong Thale — for a fraction of what it would cost back home. The catch in a smaller market is that on-demand cleaning apps barely operate here, so you'll rely on referrals, expat groups and agencies, and vet carefully. Below: where to find help, what it costs, what's usually included, live-in versus live-out, sourcing by area, the visa and work-permit rules to know, and how to vet. For the wider picture, see the Thailand domestic helpers overview.
Five routes cover almost every situation in Krabi. Because on-demand apps are essentially absent here, most expats lean on condo, villa and landlord referrals and Krabi's expat groups first, then move to an agency for a vetted live-in hire.
| Route | Best for | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Condo & building referrals | Cheap, reliable part-time cleaning | Most condos and apartment blocks in Ao Nang and Krabi Town have cleaners already servicing several units — usually the cheapest and easiest route, with informal word-of-mouth vouching from neighbours. Ask your juristic office, building manager or fellow residents when you move in. |
| Krabi & Koh Lanta expat Facebook / LINE groups | Direct hire, lowest cost | Krabi's Ao Nang and Koh Lanta expat groups are the main noticeboard for household help. Maids advertise directly and departing expats recommend their trusted cleaner — the cheapest option, but you handle all vetting, references and paperwork yourself. |
| Domestic-staff agencies | Live-in maids, housekeepers & nannies | Krabi has fewer dedicated agencies than Bangkok or Phuket, so for a vetted full-time or live-in maid or nanny you may source through a Phuket-based agency or a strong local referral. Expect a placement fee of roughly half to one month's salary in exchange for screening and background checks. |
| Villa & resort housekeeping referrals | Trusted staff for houses & upscale rentals | In the Klong Muang, Tubkaak and Nong Thale villa belt, resort housekeeping teams and villa managers often know experienced cleaners looking for private work. A good route to reliable help for a house with a pool and garden. |
| Your landlord or agent | Trusted introductions | Landlords and rental agents in Krabi usually know a dependable cleaner who already works in the building or nearby — a low-risk starting point when you first arrive and helpful across the language barrier. |
Indicative rates for 2026, generally a little below Bangkok and Phuket. Referral part-time cleaning is priced by the hour; full-time and live-in help is a monthly salary. Figures are a guide only.
| Type of help | Rate (guide) |
|---|---|
| Part-time cleaner via referral (per hour, 2–3 hr min) | THB 200–300 / hour |
| One-off deep clean (per visit) | THB 1,200–2,500 |
| Weekly live-out maid (once a week, ~4 hrs) | THB 1,800–4,000 / month |
| Daily live-out maid (full-time, ~6 days) | THB 9,000–15,000 / month |
| Live-in maid / housekeeper | THB 9,000–16,000 / month + room & board |
| English-speaking or cook/childcare live-in | THB 13,000–20,000+ / month |
| Nanny-housekeeper (phi liang) | THB 12,000–25,000 / month |
Live-in salaries assume you provide a maid's room, meals and utilities. Expect to pay more for English fluency, cooking, newborn experience, pool/garden duties or a driving licence, and budget for an agency placement fee (often half to one month's salary) plus a customary year-end bonus for long-term staff.
Standard cleaning duties are similar everywhere; the disputes come from unspoken assumptions. Settle scope, hours and add-ons before day one.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Usually included | General cleaning, mopping and dusting, laundry and ironing, washing up, making beds, tidying and taking out rubbish. |
| Common add-ons (agree upfront) | Cooking and meal prep, grocery shopping, childcare or elderly care, pet care and dog-walking, pool and garden help for houses, plant watering, and running small errands. |
| Clarify before you start | Scope, hours and days, whether cleaning products and equipment are provided, overtime, transport for live-out staff (a real factor on islands and boat-access spots), and what happens on public holidays and when you travel. |
Live-in help stays in a maid's room — a feature of many Krabi villas and larger houses — and is available across the day, usually at a lower effective hourly cost. In return you provide lodging and meals and accept less household privacy; it suits houses with pools and gardens, families needing childcare, and anyone wanting all-day cover. Live-out help commutes in for set hours or days, protects your privacy and is simpler to end, but costs more per hour and isn't there for emergencies. Condo and apartment residents in Ao Nang and Krabi Town usually prefer live-out; families in the Klong Muang and Nong Thale villa belt lean live-in. If a maid's room matters to you, factor it into your home search — see where to live in Krabi.
Most domestic helpers in Krabi are Thai nationals, who need no special paperwork from you. Migrant workers — commonly Burmese in southern Thailand — must hold valid work documents, and a foreign (non-Thai) helper such as a Filipino housekeeper legally requires a proper work permit and matching visa; employing an undocumented foreign worker is illegal and carries real risk for both sides. Thailand also gives domestic workers baseline rights — a weekly day off, public holidays, paid annual leave and a minimum working age — which you should treat as the floor. Rules and enforcement change, so use a reputable agency for any foreign or migrant staff and confirm the current requirements before hiring. This is general information for relocation planning, not legal advice.
Where you live shapes what kind of help is easy to find and whether live-in makes sense. A quick read on Krabi's main expat areas:
| Area | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Ao Nang | Krabi's main expat and long-stay hub, with the most condos and the easiest supply of part-time cleaners and building referrals. Most help here is live-out, booked by the hour or a few times a week for apartments and condos. |
| Krabi Town | Everyday Thai life on the river, with the cheapest rentals and rates. Help is almost all Thai and live-out; referrals come through your building, neighbours or landlord rather than agencies. |
| Klong Muang & Tubkaak | The quiet, upscale resort strip north of Ao Nang — villas and larger homes where live-in help is realistic and resort housekeeping referrals work well for cleaning plus pool and garden care. |
| Nong Thale | Countryside houses near the airport with space and gardens. Good territory for a regular live-out maid, and live-in help is workable in the larger family homes. |
| Railay | Reachable only by longtail boat, so any live-out helper has to commute in — most household help here is tied to resorts and hotels; private arrangements are trickier and usually part-time. |
| Koh Lanta | A relaxed long-stay and digital-nomad island with active expat groups where cleaners advertise and are recommended. Help is live-out; factor island logistics and slower ferry-dependent supply into your plans. |
A little diligence prevents almost every bad hire, especially for live-in and childcare roles. The essentials:
| Step | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Check references | Ask for one or two previous employers and actually call them. A helper with no contactable references is the single biggest red flag for a live-in or full-time role — especially in a small market where word travels fast. |
| Verify ID | See a Thai ID card or, for Burmese and other migrant workers, a passport and valid work documents. Reluctance to show ID is a warning sign. |
| Run a paid trial | Do a paid trial day or a one-to-two-week probation before committing to a live-in arrangement. It's the fastest way to judge reliability, thoroughness and fit. |
| Agree scope & pay in writing | Put duties, hours, salary, day off, holidays and any bonus in a simple written agreement (even a LINE message) so expectations are clear on both sides. |
| Prefer vetted channels for live-in | For a live-in maid or nanny, an agency that does background checks — or a strong personal referral from a neighbour, villa manager or your building — is worth the placement fee over an anonymous classified ad. |
Treat no contactable references, cash-only demands, reluctance to show ID, and over-promised English as warning signs. For a live-in maid or nanny, a paid trial period and a background-checking agency are worth far more than the lowest advertised rate.
English-speaking helpers are scarcer and cost more in Krabi than in bigger cities, so many expat households run day to day on basic English, a few learned Thai phrases and a translation app — which works fine for cleaning and simple errands. If a helper will also mind children, clear communication matters far more: decide whether you want an English-speaking nanny, a bilingual Thai–English helper who gives your child daily Thai exposure, or a Filipino nanny (where legally employed with a work permit) for stronger English. International schooling is limited in Krabi, so families weighing childcare and education should read the Krabi schools guide, and budget the whole household with the Krabi cost-of-living guide.
It depends on hours and whether they live in. A part-time cleaner booked through a referral runs about THB 200–300 an hour (usually a 2–3 hour minimum), and a one-off deep clean THB 1,200–2,500 — a little cheaper than Bangkok or Phuket. A weekly live-out maid is roughly THB 1,800–4,000 a month; a full-time daily live-out maid THB 9,000–15,000; and a live-in maid or housekeeper about THB 9,000–16,000 a month plus room and board. English-speaking staff or those who also cook or mind children command THB 13,000–20,000+, and a dedicated nanny-housekeeper (phi liang) THB 12,000–25,000. These are 2026 guide ranges (≈ THB 35–36 = USD 1) — confirm current rates locally.
The most reliable routes in Krabi are condo and building referrals (cleaners who already service units in your block in Ao Nang or Krabi Town) and the Ao Nang and Koh Lanta expat Facebook and LINE groups, where maids advertise and departing expats recommend trusted help. For a house in the Klong Muang or Nong Thale villa belt, villa managers and resort housekeeping teams are a good source. On-demand cleaning apps such as BeNeat has very limited or no coverage in Krabi, so plan to hire through referrals or an agency rather than an app. For a vetted live-in maid or nanny you may need to use a Phuket-based agency.
Thai nationals doing domestic work don't need anything special from you. Migrant workers — commonly Burmese in southern Thailand — must hold valid work documents, and a foreign (non-Thai) helper such as a Filipino housekeeper legally requires a proper work permit and matching visa; employing an undocumented foreign worker is illegal and risky. Because rules and enforcement change, use a reputable agency for foreign or migrant staff and confirm the current requirements before you hire — this guide is general information, not legal advice.
A live-in maid stays in a maid's room — common in Krabi's villas and larger houses around Klong Muang, Tubkaak and Nong Thale — and is available across the day, usually at a lower effective hourly cost, but you provide lodging and food and have less household privacy. A live-out maid commutes in for set hours or days, gives you more privacy and is simpler to end, but costs more per hour. Live-in suits houses with pools and gardens and families needing childcare; live-out suits the condo and apartment residents in Ao Nang and Krabi Town who just want regular cleaning. On Railay and Koh Lanta, boat and ferry logistics make live-out help harder to arrange.
In Krabi the app option barely exists — BeNeat has little to no coverage here — so it comes down to agencies versus direct hiring. Agencies (often Phuket-based) are best for full-time and live-in roles where screening, references and a replacement guarantee matter, in exchange for a placement fee. Direct hiring through building referrals, villa managers or the Ao Nang and Koh Lanta expat groups is cheapest and gives you the most control, but you handle vetting, pay and any paperwork yourself. Many expats here start with a condo or landlord referral, then move to an agency or a trusted direct hire once they know what they need.
Thailand's rules on domestic workers give live-in and full-time staff basic entitlements such as a weekly day off, public holidays and paid annual leave, and set a minimum working age — treat these as the floor, not the ceiling. Tipping isn't obligatory, but a year-end ('13th-month') bonus of around one month's pay is customary for long-serving live-in helpers, along with small gifts or tips for extra work. Being generous, clear and respectful about days off and pay is both expected and the best way to keep good help long term in a small market where reputations travel fast.
This guide is general information for relocation planning, not legal, employment or financial advice. Rates, agency fees, work-permit rules and domestic-worker regulations change — confirm current details directly with each agency, platform or a qualified adviser before you hire.
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.
Help sorted — now match a home and area to your budget, and run the numbers before you commit.
Hero photo by Liliana Drew on Pexels.