Pets & Vets
Import and export rules, fees and paperwork requirements change, and they are enforced differently between officers and ports of entry — always confirm the current details with Thailand's Department of Livestock Development (DLD), the destination country's authority and your airline before you book anything. Prices below are in Thai baht (THB); USD equivalents are generated from a single working rate held in the site config, so they stay consistent across the whole wiki rather than drifting page by page. Where this page is unsure, it says so rather than guessing.
Moving to Chiang Mai with a dog or cat is very doable — Thailand does not require quarantine for pets that arrive with correct paperwork, and Chiang Mai has good, affordable veterinary care once you land. The hard part is entirely in the paperwork and logistics on the way in, so most of this page is about getting your pet here cleanly. It then covers vets, boarding, grooming and the reality of finding a pet-friendly rental.
This page is written mainly for cats and dogs (and rabbits, which follow the same broad rules). Other species — birds, reptiles, ferrets — face stricter or case-by-case rules and are beyond the scope of this guide; use a professional relocation agent if that's you.
Bringing a pet into Thailand#
The core requirement is that your pet's identity and rabies status can be verified on arrival, and that you have applied for an import permit in advance. There is no routine quarantine for compliant pets. If you turn up without the right paperwork, though, the downside is real: officers can fine you, hold the animal in quarantine for at least 30 days, or refuse entry and send it back to the country of origin. So treat the checklist below as non-negotiable.
The checklist, in order#
The sequence matters — in particular, the microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination for the vaccine to "count."
- ISO microchip first. Your pet needs an ISO 11784/11785 15-digit microchip, implanted between the shoulder blades. Thai quarantine officers scan it at the airport and match it to every document. If your pet was chipped with a non-ISO chip, bring your own scanner or have an ISO chip added.
- Rabies vaccination after the chip. The rabies shot must be given after the microchip and more than 21 days before arrival (and still valid on the travel date).
- Other core vaccinations. Dogs additionally need distemper, canine hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis. Cats need feline panleukopenia (and the rabies shot). Keep the full vaccination record.
- Import permit (DLD form R.1/1). Apply to Thailand's Department of Livestock Development before you travel — generally at least 7 days ahead and no more than 60 days ahead. The permit is typically issued by email within about 5–7 working days of a complete application and is valid for 60 days. For animals arriving into Chiang Mai International Airport, the application goes to the Chiang Mai Animal Quarantine Station; ask your relocation agent or the DLD for the current email address, as these change.
- Government health certificate, issued last. A licensed/accredited vet in your origin country completes the export health certificate, and in many countries it must then be endorsed by the government veterinary authority (in the US, that's a USDA-accredited vet plus USDA endorsement). This certificate is only valid for a short window — around 10 days from endorsement — so it's the final step before flying.
Rabies titer (blood) test#
Good news for most people: Thailand does not currently require a rabies antibody titer test (RNATT/FAVN) for cats and dogs arriving from most rabies-controlled countries such as the US, Canada and the UK. This can change, and requirements differ if you're coming from a high-risk country, so verify for your specific origin.
Costs and money to budget#
Import costs are modest at the Thai end but add up once you include the flight:
- Arrival/clearance fee: around ฿500 ($15) per animal, payable in cash at the airport.
- Microchip: roughly $25–$75 at your home vet.
- Government endorsement of the health certificate: e.g. ~$101 for USDA endorsement in the US; other countries vary.
- The flight itself is usually the biggest line item — often well into the hundreds or low thousands of dollars depending on route, cabin vs. cargo, crate size and whether you use an agent.
Flying in: cabin, checked or cargo#
Which option you get depends on the airline and your pet's size:
- In-cabin is limited to small pets within a combined weight/carrier limit and only on some carriers.
- Checked baggage / accompanied cargo carries larger pets in the hold on the same flight as you.
- Manifest cargo is a separate freight booking, common for large dogs and often what relocation agents arrange.
Practical tips: book the pet slot when you book your own ticket (airlines cap the number of animals per flight), confirm the handoff process with the airline's cargo team at least 48 hours before departure, and check whether your route connects through a country with its own transit rules. Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) handles international arrivals directly, so you can often fly in without clearing your pet in Bangkok first — confirm this against your actual routing, since many long-haul itineraries still connect through Bangkok (BKK/DMK).
Should you use a relocation agent?#
For a straightforward cat or small dog from a rabies-controlled country, many people manage the paperwork themselves. For large dogs, snub-nosed (brachycephalic) breeds with airline restrictions, complex routings, or if you simply don't want to risk the health-certificate timing, a pet relocation specialist is worth the money — they handle the permit, crate, IATA compliance and cargo booking. Get a couple of quotes and check reviews before committing.
Vets in Chiang Mai#
Once you're here, veterinary care is one of the pleasant surprises of Thailand: competent, quick to get an appointment, and cheap by Western standards. A routine consultation is often in the low hundreds of baht, and vaccinations are inexpensive. Several clinics have fluent English-speaking vets used to dealing with foreign pet owners. A well-regarded shortlist:
- Thonglor Pet Hospital (two Chiang Mai branches — Airport and Ruamchoke, both 24-hour) — the local outpost of a national chain that was Thailand's first internationally-certified pet hospital. Well equipped (ultrasound, x-ray, in-house lab), fluent English, and a common first choice for expats wanting a "proper hospital" feel. Priced above the small local clinics.
- CMU Small Animal Hospital (Chiang Mai University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine) — the university teaching hospital off Highway 121. Professional, thorough, reasonably priced, and strong for routine care, vaccinations and more complex cases referred in.
- Chiang Mai Chotana Animal Hospital — a full-service animal hospital option in the Chotana area.
- Changnoi Veterinary Clinic & Animal Eye Center — English-speaking, notable for veterinary ophthalmology (led by Dr. Pop) — a good referral point for eye problems.
- Chiang Mai Animal Hospital — good hygiene standards, friendly English-speaking staff, and quick with acutely ill animals.
For genuine emergencies, call ahead if you can — the larger hospitals above are your best bet for after-hours or critical care, but confirm current hours directly, as 24/7 availability isn't guaranteed everywhere.
- English-speaking; the city's usual referral point for veterinary ophthalmology.Outer Ring Road (Highway 121, canal side), Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai 50200 · Map
- Small English-friendly hospital with a reputation for taking acutely ill animals quickly.Mueang Chiang Mai — exact address not confirmed from a primary source; check Google Maps before setting out · Map
- Full-service animal hospital near Kamthieng Market; daily 09:00–20:00. Tel 053-215-333.250/17 Chiang Mai–Lampang Road, Pa Tan, Mueang Chiang Mai 50300 · Map
- University teaching hospital off Highway 121; thorough and reasonably priced, and the usual referral point for complex cases. Tel 053-948-031.239 Liap Khlong Chonprathan Road, Suthep, Mueang Chiang Mai 50200 · Map
- 24-hour branch of Thailand's first internationally-certified pet hospital chain; opened 2024. Tel 052-005-331.Chiang Mai–Hang Dong Road, Mueang Chiang Mai (airport side) · Map
- The older of the two Chiang Mai Thonglor branches; also 24-hour.Ruamchoke, Mueang Chiang Mai — confirm exact address before travelling · Map
(See Emergency Numbers & Safety for the human-side emergency lines.)
Boarding, daycare, grooming and pet-sitting#
For trips home or regional travel, you have plenty of options. Alongside standalone catteries, kennels and grooming salons, the app PetBacker is widely used in Chiang Mai to find home-based boarding, cage-free pet hotels, daycare, grooming and pet taxis, with reviews and pricing on the platform. Rates vary a lot by whether it's cage-free home boarding vs. a kennel and by the size of your dog, so compare a few listings; booking is often done via LINE once you've made contact.
Grooming is cheap and widely available, and many vet clinics offer basic grooming and boarding on-site too.
Renting with a pet#
This is the part to plan for early, because pet-friendly housing is genuinely limited — especially condos. Many condo buildings ban pets outright, and those that allow them are a minority. Expect roughly:
- Pet-friendly 1-bedroom condo: around ฿10,000–20,000 ($295–590)/month (average near ฿13,750 ($406)).
- Pet-friendly 2-bedroom condo: around ฿15,000–45,000 ($443–1,328)/month (average near ฿28,000 ($826)).
The practical answer for most pet owners is to rent a house rather than a condo — standalone houses and houses in gated moobaan developments are far more likely to accept pets and give your animal a yard. Agencies that handle expat lettings (and the pet-friendly filters on sites like RentHub, PropertyScout and Perfect Homes) are the fastest way to find places that will actually say yes. Always confirm the pet policy in writing before paying a deposit, expect a possibly higher deposit, and be honest about the size and number of animals — see Where to Live and Setting Up Home for the wider renting picture.
Taking your pet out of Thailand again#
Plenty of people arrive with a pet and never think about the return trip — until a home-country emergency, a job move, or the end of a posting makes it urgent. Export is genuinely harder than import for many destinations, and the timelines can be long, so if there's any chance you'll leave with your animal, understand the destination's rules before you're on a deadline.
The Thai-side paperwork is the easy part. You apply for an export permit from the DLD, usually processed through the Chiang Mai Animal Quarantine Station near CNX airport, and a government vet issues an international health certificate shortly before you fly. The hard part is almost always the destination country's requirements, which the Thai certificate has to satisfy.
The single thing that catches people out is the rabies antibody titer test (RNATT/FAVN). Thailand doesn't require it to come in, but many places require it to go out to them — and it comes with a waiting period:
- European Union / United Kingdom: a blood sample must be drawn (by an accredited vet, after a valid rabies vaccination) and tested at an approved lab, and you then generally wait three months from the date of the successful blood draw before the animal can enter. In practice this means starting at least 4–5 months ahead. The EU rules sit under the current pet-travel regulation (updated for 2026); the UK operates its own equivalent scheme post-Brexit. An EU/UK health certificate issued in Thailand is typically valid only ~10 days for travel.
- United States: as of the 2024–2026 CDC dog-import rules, dogs entering the US from a rabies-present country like Thailand face extra steps — a microchip, a minimum age (dogs must be at least 6 months old), a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, and, depending on where the rabies vaccine was given, either a US-issued or a foreign rabies-vaccination certificate (sometimes with a titer from an approved lab). Cats are far simpler. Check the current CDC and USDA/APHIS pages, as this ruleset has changed repeatedly.
- Australia, New Zealand, Japan and similar strict-island destinations are in another league — long titer-plus-wait windows (Japan's can run to ~180 days), sometimes quarantine on arrival, and very little tolerance for paperwork slips. Assume 6+ months of lead time and strongly consider an agent.
If you adopted a Thai street dog or cat and want to fly it home, the local rescues do this routinely — WVS Thailand even publishes an international-adoption travel checklist — and a relocation agent (see below) can manage the whole titer-and-certificate chain for you.
Local pet-health hazards to know about#
Chiang Mai is an easy place to keep a healthy animal, but the disease and hazard profile is different from a temperate country, and a few things bite harder here — literally.
- Tick-borne disease is the big one. The brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) is everywhere, and it spreads ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and hepatozoonosis ("tick fever"). Studies of dogs in and around Chiang Mai have found roughly a fifth carrying at least one of these pathogens, often without obvious symptoms until the dog crashes. Signs include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, nosebleeds, pale gums and bruising. It's treatable if caught early and potentially fatal if not — so year-round tick prevention is not optional here. Most expat owners use a monthly chewable (e.g. NexGard/Bravecto-type products, widely sold by CM vets) rather than relying on collars or spot-ons alone. If your dog is ever off-colour with a fever, ask specifically for a tick-borne-disease blood test.
- Heartworm is present and mosquito-borne, so keep dogs (and cats, to a lesser degree) on monthly heartworm prophylaxis year-round. Many vets bundle tick and heartworm prevention.
- Heat is a daily risk, especially March–May when afternoons hit the high 30s°C. Walk dogs early morning or after dusk, never leave an animal in a parked car, watch flat-faced breeds closely, and check that pavement isn't too hot for paws.
- Burning season (roughly Feb–April) brings hazardous PM2.5 air. Pets breathe it too — keep walks short on the worst days, and if you run an air purifier for yourself, your animal benefits from the same room. (See Emergency Numbers & Safety and Health & Fitness for the human-side air-quality picture.)
- Toxic toads, snakes and centipedes. Gardens and moobaan greenery can host venomous snakes and the large Asian toad, whose skin secretion can poison a dog that mouths it (drooling, retching — rinse the mouth and get to a vet). Keep an eye on curious dogs at night.
- Street dogs and rabies. Thailand is not rabies-free. Community ("soi") dogs are common and mostly harmless but can be territorial in packs — keep your dog leashed and vaccinated, and if your pet is ever bitten or scratched by an unknown animal, treat it as a vet visit, not a wait-and-see.
Registration, microchipping and Thailand's pet laws#
For years, dog and cat ownership in Thailand was effectively unregulated once your pet was in the country. That is changing, and it's worth understanding both what the law currently requires and where it's heading.
The Animal Welfare Act already applies to you. Thailand's Cruelty Prevention and Welfare of Animals Act, B.E. 2557 (2014) is real, enforced law — neglect, abandonment or cruelty can bring fines of up to ฿40,000 ($1,181) and up to two years' imprisonment. It has been used against foreign residents in Chiang Mai (a 2022 case ended in the maximum fine plus community service). Leaving an animal chained without shelter, water or food, or dumping a pet when you leave the country, is not a grey area here.
A new wave of registration and microchip rules is arriving — Bangkok first. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration published a pet-control regulation in the Government Gazette on 15 January 2025, taking effect from 10 January 2026. Under it, dogs and cats in Bangkok must be microchipped and registered with the district office (within 120 days of birth or 30 days of acquisition), there are per-household limits scaled to home size, and fines run up to ฿25,000 ($738). Crucially, it names "dangerous" breeds — Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Rottweiler and Fila Brasileiro — which must be muzzled and on a short (≤50 cm) lead in public, handled only by someone aged 10–65, and declared to the district office.
Does this apply in Chiang Mai? As written, that regulation is Bangkok-specific — it's a BMA by-law, not national law. But it is widely seen as the template other provinces will follow, and national registration/microchip requirements have been discussed for years. Treat it as the direction of travel: microchip your pet (you'll have done this to import anyway), keep the rabies certificate current, and expect registration to become normal. If you own one of the "dangerous" breeds, assume muzzle-and-short-lead expectations may reach Chiang Mai and behave accordingly regardless. Confirm the current local position with your vet or the Chiang Mai provincial livestock office, since this is genuinely in flux.
Travelling within Thailand with your pet#
Once you're settled, you'll eventually want to take your animal to Bangkok, the islands or on a road trip. The rules are looser than international travel but the options are narrower than you might hope.
- By air — cabin: Nok Air is effectively the only airline that lets dogs and cats travel in the cabin on domestic routes, and it flies the Bangkok–Chiang Mai and Bangkok–Phuket legs you're most likely to want. There are weight/carrier limits, a per-flight cap on animals, and an extra fee — book the pet slot when you book your seat.
- By air — hold: Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways don't take pets in the cabin but carry dogs and cats as checked baggage / in the temperature-controlled hold on suitably equipped aircraft (Bangkok Airways' AVIH service runs mainly on its ATR72 flights). AirAsia and some others don't carry pets at all — always check the specific carrier and route.
- By road: for most in-country trips, driving (or a hired private car/van) is the least stressful option for the animal and sidesteps airline rules entirely. Grab and taxis are hit-and-miss — many drivers refuse animals, so a carrier and a heads-up over LINE/the app note helps.
- By train: the State Railway's long-distance trains have historically not allowed pets in passenger cars (they'd go in the luggage/freight van), which makes the sleeper to Bangkok a poor choice for a pet. Confirm current policy before relying on it.
- Reaching the islands: onward ferries to places like Koh Samui or Phuket's nearby islands each set their own pet rules — some allow leashed/crated pets on deck, some don't. Line this up before you commit to a route.
Wherever you go, carry your pet's vaccination book and (increasingly) proof of microchip/registration — useful if a hotel, airline or checkpoint asks.
Days out with your dog — pet-friendly cafés, parks and spaces#
Chiang Mai is a reasonably dog-friendly city by Thai standards, and the scene has grown. A few pointers:
- "Chiang Mai for Dogs" is a community directory that maps out dog-welcoming cafés, spaces and services around the city — a good first bookmark.
- Dog parks: the Koolpunt Small Dog Park in Hang Dong (open roughly 6:30am–8pm, a small ~฿60 ($2) entry) is a purpose-built off-lead space aimed at smaller dogs. Fenced dog parks are still relatively few, so this and similar spots fill a real gap.
- Dog-friendly cafés: several garden and specialty cafés welcome leashed or stroller/carrier-carried pets — names that come up include Gather (a dedicated dog-friendly café, out at Nong Phueng in Saraphi), Somorn Café (a leafy garden spot on Thung Hotel Road) and various Japanese/Korean-style cafés around Chang Klan and the outer ring. Policies vary — bring a lead or carrier, keep the dog under control, and check the specific café's rule (some are "small pets in a carrier only").
- Note on "animal cafés": Chiang Mai also has a cluster of cat/husky/exotic-animal cafés aimed at visitors — these are places to see animals, not to bring your own, and welfare standards vary, so choose carefully.
- Outdoor space generally: big public parks and temple grounds are usually not the place for an off-lead dog, and burning-season air (Feb–April) and afternoon heat both cap how much outdoor time is sensible. Early mornings and the cool season are prime dog-walking windows.
Getting a puppy or kitten locally — adopt or buy#
If you're getting a pet after you arrive rather than importing one, the strong steer is to adopt through a rescue (see below) — it skips all import paperwork, the animal is usually already vaccinated and sterilised, and you're supporting good work.
If you specifically want a particular breed, be careful. Pet sales in Thailand are essentially unregulated — you can buy a puppy or kitten from a mall pet shop, a market stall or an online seller with no meaningful oversight, and a significant share of that supply comes from puppy mills with poor welfare and sickly, poorly-socialised animals. There's no equivalent of a licensed-breeder register. If you go the breeder route, insist on seeing the mother and the conditions the litter was raised in, get full vaccination and health records, have your own vet check the animal, and walk away from anyone who won't let you visit or who sells very young (under-8-week) puppies. Reputable hobby breeders exist but you'll usually find them by word of mouth and vet referral rather than in a shop window.
Pet food, supplies and where to shop#
Everyday pet supplies are easy and cheap. Mainstream brands (Royal Canin, Hill's, Pedigree, Whiskas, SmartHeart and the Thai brands) are stocked in supermarkets — Rimping, Tops, Makro and the big-box HomePro/Global House all carry a pet aisle — and prices on local brands are low. The gap is at the premium / prescription / grain-free / raw end: it exists but is pricier and less consistently in stock, so if your animal is on a specific therapeutic diet, confirm you can source it locally before you move, and consider the online route.
Dedicated pet shops worth knowing (many also groom and some have an in-house vet):
- Petmart — a local chain with several Chiang Mai branches (Mae Rim, San Kamphaeng and more); broad range of food, accessories and healthcare items, and they sell via Facebook/LINE too.
- Pet Lovers Centre — the regional pet-superstore brand, found in malls, reliable for mid-range and premium food and accessories.
- Petz World, Smile Dog (also a vet clinic), Raksat Overseas Pet Supplies and Omo Pet Shop — well-reviewed independents covering food, toys, grooming and small-animal supplies.
For anything specialist, heavy (big bags of food, litter) or hard to find, Lazada and Shopee are the practical default — huge selection, home delivery, and often cheaper than the shops; Pet Lovers Centre and others run official online stores too. Cat litter, carriers, crates and pet-travel gear are all easy to get this way.
Adopting, strays and animal welfare#
Chiang Mai has a large, active animal-rescue community, and adopting locally is one of the nicest ways to get a pet here — the dogs and cats are already in-country (no import paperwork), usually vaccinated and sterilised, and the rescues will happily help arrange onward travel if you later leave. It's also a chance to support organisations doing hard, useful work.
Well-known groups:
- Care for Dogs — a long-running Chiang Mai non-profit focused on sterilisation, vaccination, rescue and rehoming; a common first stop for adopters and volunteers.
- Santisook Dogs and Cats Rescue Foundation — runs shelters for several hundred rescued animals, sterilises and vaccinates strays, and rehomes both locally and abroad.
- Lanna Dog Welfare / Lanna Care for Animals (also seen as Lanna Care for Dogs) — welfare, humane population control and a large dog sanctuary out in Mae Wang.
- WVS Thailand (Worldwide Veterinary Service) — Chiang Mai–based; runs a busy spay/neuter and community-animal programme and publishes a clear international-adoption travel checklist.
These groups are also the route to low-cost sterilisation and vaccination if you take in a soi dog or cat yourself, and most welcome fosters, volunteers and donations — a good early way to meet people (cross-ref Community, Meetups & Making Friends). If you feed or adopt a street animal, get it vaccinated and sterilised early; it's cheap and it's the norm here.
- Long-running sterilisation, vaccination, rescue and rehoming charity; ~200 dogs at the shelter. Visits by appointment, roughly 09:30–16:30 Mon–Sat. Coordinates are the foundation's own published GPS. Now presents itself alongside WVS as 'WVS Care for Dogs'.12 Moo 11, Wiang Dong, Nam Phrae, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai 50230 · Map
- Shelters several hundred rescued dogs and cats; sterilises and vaccinates strays and rehomes locally and abroad.114/278 Moo 1, Wang Doi, Pa Pong, Doi Saket, Chiang Mai 50220 · Map
- Welfare and humane dog-population-control programme working with local government across Chiang Mai districts.230 Moo 2, Ban Fon, Nong Kwai, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai 50230 · Map
- Sister organisation to Lanna Dog Welfare, running the large dog sanctuary out in Mae Wang.291 Moo 1, Ban Tong Sala Soi 7, Don Pao, Mae Wang, Chiang Mai 50360 · Map
- Runs a high-volume spay/neuter and community-animal programme and publishes an international-adoption travel checklist. Relationship with Care for Dogs is now close enough that the two share branding.Chiang Mai — the WVS International Training Centre and Care for Dogs now operate together; confirm which site to visit · Map
Pet insurance#
Pet insurance is a smaller, newer market in Thailand than in the West, but it exists and can be worth it given how affordable premiums are. Policies from Thai general insurers — names that come up include Dhipaya (TIP), Viriyah, Thaivivat and brokers/platforms like Roojai, CheckDi and PetInsure — typically start from only a few hundred to a couple of thousand baht a year for basic cover, scaling up for plans that include illness, surgery and third-party liability (useful if your dog bites someone). Entry-level cover has been advertised from as little as ~฿599 ($18)/year, with fuller plans running into the low thousands.
The catches are the usual ones: age limits (hard to start a policy on an older animal), breed and pre-existing-condition exclusions, per-condition and annual caps, and paperwork often skewed toward Thai speakers. For many owners the honest maths is that routine vet care here is cheap enough to self-insure, and the real value of a policy is capping a rare big-ticket event (major surgery, a long tick-fever hospitalisation). Read the schedule of benefits carefully and get an English-speaking agent or use one of the comparison platforms.
Saying goodbye — end-of-life care and cremation#
It's not a cheerful topic, but people move here for the long term, and older pets need this. Euthanasia when the time comes is handled compassionately and affordably by the vets and hospitals listed above — call ahead to arrange a calm, unhurried appointment, and ask whether a home visit is possible. For cremation, Chiang Mai has dedicated pet-funeral services (for example LaniRund / Pet Funeral Chiang Mai) offering individual (private) cremation, return of ashes and simple ceremonies, alongside the option some temples provide. Individual cremation with ashes returned is the usual choice for expat owners; confirm pricing and whether the cremation is private (yours alone) versus communal when you book. Your vet can also refer you and, in many cases, coordinate collection.
Quick reference#
- Quarantine: none for compliant pets; up to 30 days (or refusal) if paperwork is wrong.
- Must-haves: ISO microchip → rabies shot (after chip, >21 days before travel) → DLD import permit → endorsed health certificate (short validity).
- Arrival fee: ~฿500 ($15) per animal, cash.
- Titer test: not currently required from most rabies-controlled countries — verify for your origin.
- Vets: cheap and good; Thonglor, CMU and Chotana are solid English-friendly starting points.
- Housing: rent a house, not a condo, if you have a pet — and get the policy in writing.
- Leaving again: export is harder than import — EU/UK need a rabies titer test + ~3-month wait; strict destinations (Japan/Australia/NZ) need 6+ months' lead time.
- Health here: year-round tick and heartworm prevention is essential (tick fever is common); watch heat and burning-season air.
- Adopt local: Care for Dogs, Santisook, Lanna Care, WVS — no import paperwork, and they help with onward travel; buying from mall/market pet shops risks puppy-mill animals (unregulated trade).
- Supplies: basics cheap everywhere; use Lazada/Shopee for premium/prescription food and heavy items.
- The law: the 2014 Animal Welfare Act is enforced (up to ฿40,000 ($1,181) fine / 2 yrs); microchip + district registration is now mandatory in Bangkok from Jan 2026 and likely to spread — keep your pet chipped and rabies-current.
- Domestic travel: Nok Air is the only cabin-pet option (BKK–CNX–HKT); Bangkok Airways/Thai carry pets in the hold; trains generally won't take pets in passenger cars.
Related pages: Where to Live · Setting Up Home · Shipping, Post & Couriers · Getting Around · Emergency Numbers & Safety · Cost of Living · Community, Meetups & Making Friends.
Sources & useful links#
- Thailand Pet Import Requirements — PetTravel
- Bringing Pets to Thailand in 2026: Rules, Airlines & Vet Costs — Thairanked
- Requirements for importation of Dogs/Cats/Rabbits into Thailand (MFA PDF)
- Bringing Pets into Thailand — Royal Thai Embassy, Washington DC
- Bringing a Dog or Cat to Thailand from the US — AirPaws
- Moving Pets to Thailand — PetRelocation
- Veterinarian Cost in Chiang Mai — Tieland to Thailand
- Most Advanced Animal Healthcare in Chiang Mai — Thailand Nomads
- Chiang Mai Chotana Animal Hospital
- Pet-Friendly Condos for Rent in Chiang Mai — PropertyScout
- Pets in Chiang Mai property — Perfect Homes
- Chiang Mai Pet Boarding, Grooming & Sitters — PetBacker
- Pet Travel From the US to Thailand — USDA APHIS
- Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country — European Commission
- Taking your dog/cat from Thailand — international travel checklist (WVS Thailand PDF)
- Tick-borne pathogens in dogs in Chiang Mai (research) — PMC
- The Best Pet Shops in Chiang Mai — Thailand Nomads
- Care for Dogs Foundation, Chiang Mai
- Santisook Dogs and Cats Rescue Foundation
- Lanna Care For Dogs
- WVS Thailand — Worldwide Veterinary Service
- Pet Insurance Thailand — CheckDi
- Pet insurance options in Thailand — Strictly Thailand
- Pet Funeral Chiang Mai — LaniRund
- Bangkok's 2026 Pet Law: what owners must know — ILCT
- Bangkok to Introduce New Pet Ownership Laws in 2026 — The Nation
- Thailand's Animal Cruelty Prevention and Welfare Law — Thai Business Law Firm
- Take your pet on board Bangkok–Chiang Mai flights with Nok Air — The Thaiger
- Travel with Pet — Bangkok Airways
- Chiang Mai for Dogs — dog-friendly directory
- Dog Park Chiang Mai (Koolpunt) — Dog Park Thailand