Bangkok typists

So how do you find a typist? Well, there are two basic ways to do it -- institutional, and freelance. You can go to a typist agency, and find one there. Or, you can wander the streets, plenty of typists ready and eager to help you out.

Some agencies have, behind a large window, rows and rows of typists sitting. Most of them are watching TV. You can pick out whichever one you want to do your typing. Facilities are available on-site, so you do not need to provide workspace. The entire relationship is crisp and professional and rarely gets messy. You pay for the time in advance, and everyone knows the deal. The draw back, of course, is that the messy parts are kind of nice, too.

In other establishments, you sit down and buy a drink and the typists come over and sit with you. You can get to know the typist a little, ask her questions, perhaps she will demonstrate some skills. At this point, if you and she agree, you can pay the establishment the take-out fee, about 10-15 dollars US, and the typist will go with you. Of course, you must provide any equipment needed and the space to work in. If things go well, the typist may work with you for several days or even a week. As long as you are happy with her work, and she is happy with you, and you pay the fees, you can continue typing.

There are even some typists who sit in bus stops waiting for customers. They are generally cheaper, and reputed to be of poorer quality. There have been reports of stealing or damaged equipment.
You can meet typists everywhere in Bangkok. The waitress in the coffee shop probably does a little typing on the side -- ask her. The lady who smiles at you, the clerk in your office, anyone may be a typist. A few years ago, a local newspaper interviewed a thousand Bangkok typists. These ladies all worked evenings. The most surprising fact to emerge from this survey was that about fifty of these ladies, five percent of the total, had daytime jobs as secretaries. Of course, you expect your secretary to maybe do a little typing at home for her boyfriend. But you certainly do not expect her to be peddling her skills on the evening streets.

Where have I met typists? I've met American typists at a mutual friend's house, in psychotherapy, in a parking lot, in a gambling casino. I've met Thai typists outside 7/11, in massage parlors, in the park, walking along the railroad tracks. Oddly enough, I've never met a typist at work; don't know why not.
There is good money to be made being a typist in Bangkok. There is a certain amount of glamour, too. You never know who you will be typing for tomorrow, it's not like you're a long-term employee of one person.

On the other hand, there are drawbacks. The money is good but irregular; you may go days or weeks without work. Typists who have long-term contracts look down on free-lancers. Sometimes a business forces a gal to do typing for a customer even though she doesn't really like that person. She may even have a quota for how much typing she must do each month in order to keep her position at the agency.
It is not considered polite to ask a typist where she was trained. If she is good, it does not matter. Some even feel that it is a mark of a quality typist for her to be unskilled, as if a lady were born with a limited quantity of typing in her and it can be used up.

There are rumors that some ladies, if they like you enough, will do your typing for free.