Eight broker-scam red flags every domestic worker should know

First, our promise to you

1. The broker wants to hold your passport

This is illegal. You have the right to keep your own passport. If anyone (agency, employer, broker, family member) tells you they are "holding it for safekeeping," refuse, take it back, and contact a hotline below.

Source: Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act B.E. 2551 (2008). Holding a worker's documents to control them is a recognised sign of forced labour.

2. You are being told to work on a tourist visa

Working on a tourist visa is illegal. The penalty falls partly on the employer and partly on you. The only legal route for a Burmese, Lao, Cambodian, or Vietnamese domestic worker is the MOU work-permit process, where you arrive with a proper visa and work permit before you start. If the broker says "you can start now and we will fix the visa later," walk away.

Filipino workers have a separate legal question, because Thailand's low-skilled MOU route does not include the Philippines. If you are Filipino, read Can a Filipino legally work as a maid in Thailand? before you agree to anything, and ask the MWO at the Philippine Embassy (number below).

Source: Royal Ordinance on the Management of Employment of Foreign Workers B.E. 2560 (2017); the MOU route is the only legal channel for low-skilled foreign domestic labour. See MR 15 and our MOU explainer for detail.

3. The broker wants a placement fee, or is taking one out of your wages

This is the most common scam against workers, so read it slowly. Paying for a job is not your cost. The cost of recruiting you is the employer's cost. You should only ever pay for three small, fixed things:

• your own passport,
• your medical check,
• your fixed government work-permit fees.

That is all. A legal MOU placement costs the employer only about ฿3,700 to ฿4,200 in government fees per worker, and the employer is the one who pays the recruitment side. If a broker asks you for a "placement fee," a "training fee," a "deposit," or money to "guarantee" the job, that is illegal. Taking these fees out of your wages is illegal too.

The honest reality: many workers are charged far more than the law allows. On the Myanmar–Thailand route, workers have been found paying roughly USD 465 to 1,045 to brokers, many times the legal cost. That is the broker breaking the law, not you. Knowing the rule is your first protection. If you see deductions, document them (photograph the payslip, save the bank transfer) and call a hotline.

Source: Royal Ordinance on the Management of Employment of Foreign Workers B.E. 2560 (2017), Section 49, which bars demanding money or property from a migrant worker beyond the fixed government fees. Penalty: up to 6 months imprisonment and/or a fine equal to twice the sum unlawfully collected. Cost figures: Five Corridors Project and ILO research on the Myanmar–Thailand corridor.

4. You do not have a written contract

Under MR 15 (2024), every domestic worker should have a written employment contract in a language they read, before work begins. If you have no contract, or only a Thai-language contract you cannot read, ask for one. If it is refused, that is a major red flag.

Source: Ministerial Regulation No. 15 (B.E. 2567), effective 30 April 2024. See your rights as a domestic worker for the full list.

5. Your wage is below the provincial minimum

Since 30 April 2024, the minimum wage applies to domestic workers. There is no special lower rate for maids. In Bangkok and Phuket, the minimum is ฿400 a day since 1 July 2025, which is about ฿8,800 a month for a normal 22-working-day month. "Room and board" cannot be used to bring your cash wage below the provincial minimum. The room and food are on top of your wage, not a substitute for it.

Source: Wage Committee Notification No. 14, effective 1 July 2025 (Bangkok and Phuket ฿400/day); minimum wage applies to domestic workers under MR 15 (30 April 2024). National range is about ฿337 to ฿400/day depending on province.

6. You are not getting a weekly day off

MR 15 requires at least one paid rest day per week, with no more than 6 days between rest days. The employer cannot force you to give it up. If you ever agree to work a rest day or a public holiday, you should be paid extra for it.

Source: Ministerial Regulation No. 15 (B.E. 2567), effective 30 April 2024 (weekly rest day; holiday-work pay).

7. The broker controls all your contact and will not let you speak privately

You should be able to speak privately with anyone: your translator, the embassy, an NGO, your family. If the broker is monitoring or controlling all your communication, that is a sign of control that often comes before serious abuse. Reach out to a hotline.

8. The agency promises something "too good to be true"

If the broker promises a salary far above market without explaining how, "guaranteed" visa approval, or "no paperwork needed," they are lying about the role, the visa, or the legal status. Cross-check the pay against honest market ranges, and check the agency's licence number with the Department of Employment.

Hotlines & help

For a fuller list of NGOs and hotlines by region, see our NGO & hotline directory. For your country's embassy in Thailand, see the embassy directory.

Three things to do today, even if nothing is wrong yet

1. Photograph every page of every document (your passport, your visa, your work permit, your contract, your medical card). Send the photos to a family member. If your documents are taken later, you still have proof.
2. Save the hotline numbers to your phone right now, with the names "HomeNet," "MAP," "1300," "1694."
3. Open a bank account in your own name, not a relative's or the agency's. Your wages should be paid into your own account. This is also a paper trail if anything goes wrong.