We just posted our feature country for the month of March 2009, on our website, www.aupairclearinghouse.com. To read the entire article click on the address and go to Cultural Differences.
Thailand is a wonderful country to visit - the beaches are great and the weather is tropical bliss. Au pairs from Thailand offer an exciting cultural exchange for your family - they are kind, intelligent and gentle with children. Most Thais are Buddhists and are respectful and honest.
If you are thinking about a Thai au pair, read the article, there are pros and cons when hosting a girl from Thailand - driving and English skills can be problematic!
We would love to hear from host families who had, or have, a Thai au pair! What are your experiences and did she acclimate well into American culture?
How was her driving? Her English skills?
We would love to hear from Thai au pairs too! How did you find your stay in America? Was is all that you hoped for? What were some of the big 'changes' that you didn't expect? What was your favorite thing about America and your least favorite thing?
Loved your article on your website on Thailand. The photos are beautiful. I would love to host an au pair from that country. Do you know what agencies have Thai au pairs?
ReplyDeleteHi! Yes, most of the agencies have Thai au pairs. Au Pair in America seems to have the largest pool of Thai au pairs (they were in Thailand recruiting before any other agency - and currently they have more au pairs from China since they were in China first too!).
ReplyDeleteThai au pairs do have some drawbacks, as outlined in the article on our site, www.aupairclearinghouse.com. They typically have weak driving skills and their English is not as good as they say it is in their application!
If you have an infant, you may consider passing on that Thai au pair until your child is older (4 or 5). At our website, see our Family Forum where we discuss language development in babies and Asian au pairs. Speech therapists have written about leaving young children for extended lengths of time with au pairs who have poor English which could hamper their speech and language development.
If you don't have an infant and want to try an au pair from Thailand, call www.aupairinamerica first, as they have the largest number of Thai au pairs available.
Good luck and please let us know how it goes! We want to hear from our readers and to share experiences so other host families can read and learn.
Best,
Edina