We are not sure what to think of the experience we had shipping our cat internationally to Thailand, but to make a long story short, he made it safely here after being in transit on and off for 36 hours. For us, however, it was an emotional roller coaster filled with frustration, anticipation, and uncertainly. At one point, we even though we were getting scammed. But that is the way of Thailand, and we’ve read others having similar experiences.
Receiving Our Cat From Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport
Things went wrong from the beginning. We had been instructed via email to pick up the cat “in front of baggage claim number 8 and pay an import license fee of 100 baht” ($3). Sounds simple, right?
Well, seeing as we incorrectly assumed that “baggage claim 8” referred to the arriving flights at the main airport, we did a bit of running around at the main terminal before being redirected to the customs building a short bus ride away from the airport. Fine. Rookie mistake. We found our way to the customs building, only to be approached by three Thai men who were lounging and smoking on the front steps. We pointed to our newly purchased foo-foo cat carrier and they said, “Oh, first need paperwork!” From that point on, we went through a whirl wind of driving around the cargo area to various buildings, jumping in and out of one of the Thai man’s personal truck, signing this and paying that. He obligingly guided us through the process of obtaining access permits to the cargo area, confirming the delivery of the cat and signing off on the original State-side paperwork, and having us pay an arrival/delivery fee (1045 baht – $35). We wouldn’t have had a clue what to have done, where to go, and in what order, if we hadn’t run into him and his two friends.
We finally made it back to the customs building and that’s where everything came to an abrupt halt. We were told that it would be about two hours before we got our cat, and we should wait in the lobby of this big building. Not in a processing area with other staff working, but in an empty lobby. Sitting by an old, beat up desk. With no other people waiting for their animals. These three guys took turns sitting at the desk, reading a newspaper, and going outside to smoke on the front steps. Every once in a while, they would get a call on their cell phone, have a short conversation in Thai, briefly leave, come back with some papers, sit back down at the desk, all while assuring us our cat would be there soon.
After awhile, we weren’t so sure what was going on. Where was the real customs processing facility? – surely not in a lobby. Where there no other people waiting to pick up pets on a weekend flight? And who exactly were these three men, although they were wearing airport personnel badges of some sort?
We felt really uneasy a few times. The worst moment was about an hour into the waiting period and one of the Thai men came back with some paperwork and said that it would cost eight-thousand-and-some-odd baht to get the cat. Well, we were quite surprised we owed any more money, as we figured the total bill had been taken care of State side with the help of my mom. Since the old lobby desk had no credit card machine or computer to transfer the money, we had to come up with cash. Chris found an ATM in the building, and so here we are, handing over 8000 cash baht (nearly $300) to this guy. He thanks us, grabs some papers, and promptly leaves the lobby. At this point, only one other Thai guy is left with us, and even shortly after, he walks away and leaves us by ourselves in the empty lobby, and it’s only getting darker and darker outside. At that point, Chris goes to follow them, and the last guy tells Chris to not to worry and to go sit back down.
What was so unusual about the situation was that nothing seemed official. Instead of a clearly labelled and easily reachable cargo, customs, and animal quarantine facilities, they were spread out with no directions or uniformed person to guide us. However, we have no accusations against the Suvarnabhumi Airport, the cargo facility, or its staff. In fact, some of the men who helped us were extremely friendly the entire time, and at the end of the day, we got our cat. It was just unexpected and confusing.
There are many questions to which we may never learn the answers. Who exactly were those three guys? Are they the people who typically deal with cargo and animal control? What would we have done if they had not been lounging on the front steps of the customs building? Where was the quarantine station? Who actually approved the cat’s quarantine paperwork? What would we have done if there hadn’t been an ATM?
Overall, we got our cat safely back to our hotel, and he is currently enjoying the new scenery, as if everything went the way it should.
That sounds awfully steep. Did you get a receipt? I only paid 1000 baht at the airport to get my cat released to me from overseas. I was surprised at how painless it was (not much paperwork).
Cost depends on numerous factors, particularly weight, airline, distance, and whether it was a normal or freight flight, departing country and arriving country. You’re lucky yours was so cheap. We’re not surprised though because this is Thailand!
If the animal is traveling with you it is so much easier! You pay taxes for a pet being shipped via cargo fright even though it is your pet and not for breeding/selling. Crazy right? I paid 6,000 Baht in taxes when I had bought a Maine Coon and had him imported from Australia. And that was 11 yrs ago. Also, short hair cats cost more in taxes than long hair because “you can get a short-haired cat in Thailand.” I’ve traveled internationally with a cat, 2 cats, 2 birds, a puppy (each in a separate trip). Take so much… Read more »
For local flights we fly him in cabin, but we are seriously considering keeping him in cabin for our next international flight , whenever that may be. We were so concerned with him going to the bathroom on the 12 hour flight, but he didn’t make a mess in the cargo! I think it’ll be less stressful for us if we choose to have him fly with us. Thanks for the tip!
When I traveled to-from Canada with a cat or puppy before, having them in cabin wasn’t a problem with Air Canada or Thai Airways. I always flew with both airlines and they are quite flexible when it comes to your pet (allowing bigger size kennel, soft carrier etc). I just had to be careful not to go through certain routes. For example, Hong Kong is a pain for animal travel! You can only do freight and tons of paperwork. I found Japan (especially) and Korea to be more welcoming with traveling animals. The flight we just booked for March this… Read more »
Wow, thanks for the heads up about Thai Airways new no-cabin pet policy! Looks like we’ll have figure out the next best option when we move to Hua Hin for a few months. We can’t imagine flying with six pets – one was enough for us!
Thanks for the suggestion with United and Continental. We flew the kitty here on Lufthansa and had great service, but it cost a pretty penny! Taiwan is another country that is hard to fly pets into (even for layovers, quarantine is required!). We have some time to figure it all out though.
Thai Airways may still let you carry a pet in cabin for domestic flight though. Otherwise they are generally very good and treat your pet well. Hua Hin is going to be a blast! You guys are doing what other people may have dreamed of but don’t have the courage to follow through :) I’ve never traveled with these many animals either. It will be a circus but hope all worth it :D I did look into Lufthansa too. From Canada you could only book them through an agent only and they costs like $1,500+ :( look forward to hear… Read more »
What a stressful experience. We brought our dog with us to Chiang Mai and it was a lot of work at the Dubai end to get all the paperwork in order. (We did it all ourselves as agencies there charge about $500 on top of the actually transport costs.) We were concerned about anything going wrong at the Thai end so we paid an agency here (Dynamic Cargo in Bangkok) to get the import documents sorted and they were very helpful guiding us through the process in Suvarnabhumi airport. Our dog had to travel as freight as she and crate… Read more »
We thought getting everything sorted BEFORE he flew was the hard part, until it came time to pick him up… If we could go back in time, we think we would have opted to do what you did and go through an agency. Smart move!
Even with all the hassle, our cat LOVES it here in Thailand, so we know we made the right decision bringing him. We’re glad your dog is happy, too. :)