Bringing the dog from Europe.

Why this starts six months before the flight

Moving a dog or a cat from Europe to Thailand is not difficult, but it is strictly sequential, and several of the steps have minimum waiting periods that cannot be compressed by any amount of money or goodwill. A microchip must be in place before the rabies vaccination for the vaccination to count. The rabies vaccination must be a defined period before travel. Where a blood test is required it has its own laboratory turnaround and its own waiting period after it. The health certificate that ties the file together has a short validity window and must be issued near the end, not the beginning. Get the order wrong at any point and the clock restarts.

This is also the part of a relocation where families most often assume that the pet transport company has it in hand. Good ones do. But the legal obligation sits with the owner, the documents are issued in the owner's name, and it is the owner standing at the animal quarantine counter at Suvarnabhumi. Read your own file before it flies.

The paperwork sequence

• Microchip first, to the ISO standard used across Europe, before anything else is done or recorded.
• Rabies vaccination after the chip, with the animal old enough to be vaccinated, and a defined minimum period before departure.
• Any additional vaccinations required for the species, recorded with dates, batch numbers and the veterinarian's details.
• A rabies antibody titre test where required, carried out at an approved laboratory, with its own waiting period after sampling.
• The Thai import permit, applied for in advance of travel and issued by the Department of Livestock Development.
• A veterinary health certificate issued close to departure and endorsed by the official government veterinary authority of the country you are leaving.
• Airline booking and an approved travel container, arranged in parallel rather than last.

Every one of those steps has detail that varies by country of origin, by species, and over time, and the requirements are periodically revised. Treat the list above as the shape of the exercise and take the actual specification from the Thai Department of Livestock Development and from the official veterinary authority in your own country. Where your veterinarian at home has not done this route before, say so early; the endorsement step in particular involves a government office rather than the practice, and lead times for it vary.

The import permit

Thailand requires an import permit for the animal, issued by the Department of Livestock Development, and it should be obtained before the animal travels rather than presented as a request on arrival. The application asks for the animal's identification and vaccination details, the flight information, and the details of the importer in Thailand. It has a validity period, so it cannot be obtained a year in advance either. This is the single most common point of failure we see, usually because a family assumed that European style pet passport arrangements travel outside Europe. They do not; the European scheme governs movement within its own area and has no standing in Thailand.

How the animal actually travels

There are three ways an animal reaches Bangkok and they are not equally available. A small cat or dog within the airline's weight limit including its carrier may travel in the cabin on some carriers, which is by far the least stressful option and is disappearing from some route networks. Larger animals travel in the hold as checked baggage on the same flight as the owner, where the airline permits it. Everything else travels as manifest cargo, booked through the airline's freight arm or an agent, which sounds alarming and is in fact the most professionally handled of the three.

• Confirm the specific airline's live animal policy for your route and season in writing, because policies differ sharply between European carriers.
• Check breed restrictions: snub nosed dogs and cats are refused by many airlines because of genuine respiratory risk in flight.
• Check weather embargoes at both ends, which can block hold travel in hot months.
• Buy an approved rigid container to the international standard, sized properly, and acclimatise the animal to it for weeks beforehand.
• Prefer a nonstop flight. A connection means a transfer, a second handling and a second set of ground rules.
• Book the animal at the same time as the family, not afterwards, since hold and cargo capacity for live animals is limited per flight.
• Discuss sedation with your veterinarian; it is generally advised against for air travel and many airlines will refuse a sedated animal.

The quarantine position

The general position, where the paperwork is complete and correct and the animal is healthy on arrival, is that dogs and cats arriving in Thailand are cleared at the airport without a period of confinement. That is the outcome nearly all of our clients experience. It is not, however, a guarantee: the Thai authorities retain the discretion to require quarantine where documentation is deficient, where the animal's health raises a question, or where the origin country's disease status requires it. Nobody should plan a family's arrival on the assumption that discretion will always be exercised favourably, and nobody should treat a complete file as merely advisable. The file is what keeps the animal out of quarantine.

Arrival day

Clearance happens at the animal quarantine station at the airport rather than at the passenger desks, and it takes time. Somebody should be dedicated to the animal, ideally not the parent supervising three tired children after a twelve hour flight. That means either an agent engaged to clear the animal, or a member of the household sent through to handle it. Bring the entire file in hard copy, including the import permit, the endorsed health certificate, the vaccination record and the microchip details, and bring water and a lead. Expect a fee, expect a wait, and expect a dog that is thirsty, confused and enormously pleased to see you.

Life here for a European animal

The heat is the first adjustment and it is significant for thick coated northern breeds, which should be walked early and late and never through the middle of the day. Ticks and mosquito borne disease, heartworm in particular, are a year round rather than a seasonal concern here, and preventative treatment should start immediately and continue without gaps. Veterinary care in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket is good, and the better clinics are accustomed to foreign owners and to European vaccination records. Street dogs are a fact of daily life in most areas, which affects where a nervous dog can be walked comfortably.

Two housing points, because they decide where a family with a dog can live. Many Bangkok condominium buildings do not permit dogs at all, and those that do often impose size limits, so the pet question must be raised at the viewing rather than after the lease. Houses with gardens in the suburbs, and villas in Phuket and Hua Hin, are where dog owning families generally end up. And plan the exit as well as the entry: taking the animal onward to another country, or back into the United Kingdom or the European Union, has its own requirements which are frequently stricter than the ones that got it here, and which should be checked before you leave rather than when you want to go.

Import requirements for live animals change and are applied at the discretion of the authorities on the day. Verify the current permit application process, vaccination timings, testing requirements and quarantine position directly with the Thai Department of Livestock Development, and confirm the export endorsement process with the official government veterinary authority in your own country.

This briefing is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Thai rules change frequently and individual cases differ. Verify current requirements with the relevant authorities, including the Immigration Bureau, the Board of Investment, the Land Department, the Department of Business Development and the Revenue Department, and take advice on your own facts before acting.