Bringing a Dog or Cat to Thailand

Your pet needs an import permit from the Department of Livestock Development before you fly. Email the quarantine station at your arrival airport at least 7 business days ahead, and give the vaccines 21 days before departure. The entry fee is THB 500 per animal.

Your dog or cat can come with you, but the permit has to be sorted before the flight, not after. Get that order wrong and the animal can be sent back or destroyed without compensation. Plan backwards from your departure day and it is a short chain of steps.

The permit comes first

Thai Customs sets the rule.

“สัตว์มีชีวิต” เป็นของต้องกำกัด ดังนั้น สัตว์เลี้ยงที่ผู้โดยสารนำติดตัวเข้ามาด้วย ไม่ได้รับยกเว้นอากร และต้องได้รับอนุญาตนำเข้าจากกรมปศุสัตว์จึงจะนำเข้าได้

“Live animals” are controlled goods, so a pet a passenger brings along is not exempt from duty and may be imported only with an import permit from the Department of Livestock Development.

Thai Customs Department, passenger pet import page

You ask for the permit by email from the quarantine station at the airport where you will land. Suvarnabhumi, Phuket and Chiang Mai all list an address. Send the request at least 7 business days before you fly.

Attach Form R1/1, plus these:

• Your passport copy and your flight itinerary.
• A clear colour photo of the pet.
• The vaccination record, in English.
• The microchip certificate.

The station usually answers in about 3 to 7 business days. The permit then stays valid for 60 days, so time the request to your flight.

Vaccines and the health certificate

Count back 21 days from your departure date: that is the cutoff for vaccines. Dogs need rabies, distemper, hepatitis, parvo and leptospirosis, and cats need rabies and feline panleukopenia. Your pet must be at least 4 months old, and dogs of any breed are fine.

Your vet also issues an official health certificate, which the exporting country’s authority endorses. I would book that endorsement as close to your flight as you can, because it is valid for only 10 days. The station takes only the original with real ink stamps, not a digitally signed copy.

What happens at the airport

Go to the quarantine station first, where the vet inspects the pet. At Suvarnabhumi it sits next to carousel No. 8 and is open 24 hours. Phuket and Chiang Mai are open 8:30 am to 4:30 PM.

If the vet finds no disease, you get the import licence (form R.7). The entry fee is THB 500 per animal, in cash. Then show the pet and the R.7 licence at the Goods to declare lane.

Quarantine: ask before you book

A pet with no sign of illness is not quarantined, though an officer can still detain any animal. The livestock department’s own requirements, however, list at least 30 days at the owner’s cost. I would put that question in your permit email and keep your dates loose until the station answers.

Timeline at a glance

For the rest of your move, see our moving to Thailand guide. If your pet bites someone or you are scratched, read about rabies after a dog bite. Other items have their own rules in what not to bring into Thailand, and travel insurance covers you, not your pet.

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Not confirmed: Quarantine: the livestock department's written requirements say at least 30 days at the owner's cost, but a Thai consulate says a healthy pet is not quarantined. Email the station before you book and ask which applies.

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