Your dog or cat to Thailand: the import permit by email, and a ten-day window

Yes, your dog or cat can come to Thailand, and the Thai requirements are manageable: the rabies blood test is optional, and a healthy animal as a rule does not go into quarantine. What makes it tricky is the order. You request an import permit in advance by email from the animal quarantine station of the airport where you land, no earlier than sixty and no later than seven days before departure. For a dog or cat that permit is valid for only ten days. And the pet passport must be legalised in the Netherlands, which itself takes weeks.

What does Thailand require of your animal?

The Department of Livestock Development (DLD) sets the requirements, and the Thai embassy in The Hague passes them on. For dogs and cats:

Requirement	Dog	Cat
Microchip	yes, and the number must match all the papers	yes
Rabies	yes, at least 21 days before departure, given at an age of at least 3 months	same
Other vaccinations, at least 21 days before departure	distemper, hepatitis, parvo and leptospirosis	feline panleukopenia
Leptospirosis	vaccination, or a negative test in the 30 days before departure	n/a
Minimum age	4 months	4 months
Health certificate	in English, signed or endorsed by an official government veterinarian	same
Transport	in a crate that nose and paws cannot get out of	same

If the chip number does not match the papers, or the animal does not comply, it can be sent back or held in a quarantine facility, at your expense.

How do you apply for the import permit?

You email form R1/1 with a copy of your passport, a photo of the animal, your flight itinerary, the vaccination record in English and the microchip certificate to the Animal Quarantine Station of your port of arrival. The embassy names three addresses: Suvarnabhumi, Phuket and Chiang Mai. The station's veterinarian reviews the application in at least three working days and emails the permit. If you hear nothing, you can call the cargo office at Suvarnabhumi.

Mind the difference between two papers with almost the same name. The permit you receive in advance is the import permit. The import licence you only get on arrival, at the animal quarantine counter, together with the approval of the import. For that you pay 500 baht per animal, in cash.

Ten days is short. The permit for a dog or cat is valid for ten days after issue, and you may apply for it sixty days before departure at the earliest. So only apply once your flight is fixed, and plan the appointment for the health certificate and the legalisation so that everything falls within that window.

What has to happen in the Netherlands?

With the permit in hand you go to the vet for the health certificate. The embassy in The Hague also asks that the original pet passport and the vaccination book are legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then by the Thai embassy. The NVWA legalises pet passports and related documents at its office in Utrecht, by an appointment you request by email at least fourteen working days ahead; the animal does not come to that appointment. When making the appointment, ask the NVWA which steps are needed for Thailand, so you don't have to go twice.

What happens on arrival?

With your animal in the cabin you report at Suvarnabhumi to the animal quarantine station next to baggage carousel 8, which is open day and night. If the animal travels as cargo, it goes to the cargo office in the free zone, which is open during the day on working days. In Phuket and Chiang Mai the counter is open daily from half past eight to half past four. You need: your passport, the original pet passport or vaccination book, the original of the stamped health certificate, and a printout of the permit.

On quarantine the sources do not fully agree. The older DLD requirements document speaks of at least thirty days of quarantine after arrival. The embassy writes that an animal without signs of illness does not go into quarantine, but that the veterinarian keeps the power to hold an animal. So count on walking through, and allow for the exception.

And if you ever want to go back?

Look at the return journey before you leave. The NVWA advises checking that before you go abroad, because a rabies vaccination given outside the EU is not valid in the EU pet passport, and a blood test done outside the EU only allows a return journey after ninety days. Where this step falls in the journey is at /thailand; what the flight costs for an animal, in the cost indication for Thailand.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Thailand or go straight to step 2.6 in the open plan.