We empathize with the pet owners who are faced with the tough decision to bring their pets abroad. But is Thailand pet friendly? Here’s a look into Thailand’s pet culture to help you decided if bringing your pet is the best choice.

Oakley is happy living with family in the US. We don’t think he is a good fit for Thailand.
We made the sobering decision to bring along our tabby cat, MooShu, but left our American Bully, Oakley, behind with family. We later agreed that this was the right decision because of his size and breed. Here’s a look at seven major deciding factors that influenced our choice to keep our cat but leave our dog in the US.
Veterinarians
Thailand’s medical care is up to par with Western standards for both people and animals. Modern medical pet care is readily available in cities and large towns. While services will vary across facilities, it’s possible to receive 24 hour emergency assistance, operations, lab work, medical treatment, vaccinations, and general exams.
We had a scare with our cat in the middle of the night a few months after moving to Chiang Mai, and another mishap a year later. But much to our relief, we received immediate medical care from English-speaking doctors. And the cost? About 10% of what similar procedures cost in the US. Nice!
Street Dogs and Cats
After long observing Chiang Mai’s Old City streets, as well as traveling to over a dozen other cities throughout Thailand, one thing is unavoidable: street dogs and cats. They are everywhere, roaming neighborhoods, lounging outside of temples, and skittering through alleys and across dirt roads.
We can’t say for certain these cats and dogs are homeless. It’s evident that Thais throw them scraps of food throughout the day, but they aren’t cared for at the same level as cats and dogs are back in the USA. Many are pretty scrappy looking, complete with matted fur, bad skin conditions, and kinky tails. They are also typically intact, so baby-rearing females and territorial males are the norm.
Strays are often curious about foreign leashed dogs but often mean no harm. In fact, sometimes they show no interest at all. But we wouldn’t go as far as saying that going for a dog walk is relaxing. There are definitely enough strays wandering around and we can never be sure which ones are aggressive.
We’ve watched a friend’s miniature Cocker Spaniel several times and have had good experiences taking her out for potty breaks. She’s a calm dog and there’s only been one minor confrontation out of all the times we’ve walked her in our neighborhood. One of our neighborhood’s aggressive little dogs charged us, but we scooped her up and chased the dog away.
We laugh at the thought of trying to do that with our old dog, Oakley, who is 85lbs! Although he’s not aggressive, what could we have done if a stray got too assertive and things started getting nasty? Ultimately, we recommend taking extra precautions when walking a large dog or a dog that tends to be more confrontational or upfront with others.
Dog Parks
There are beautiful parks for people to take a stroll, have a picnic, and exercise. While some parks allow leashed dogs for walks, many park are not exclusively dog parks and do not allow dogs to roam free. There are also parks that do not allow dogs at all.
It will take some looking to find an area to safely unleash your dog and allow to play. However, Chiang Mai University, located just west of the Old City, hosts a dog friendly park where dogs can run around.
Pet Stores
Pet food and supplies can be found in major stores, such as Tesco Lotus, Makro, and Big C. There are also many boutique pet shops. They typically offer a good variety of cat and dog food, including several familiar brands we’ve recognized from the US.
There are also plenty of toys, grooming items, and clothing for smaller dog breeds. In fact, there seems to an industry that caters entirely to the cuteness factor of little foo-foo dogs! On the flip side, it’s hard to find a good variety of big heavy bags of dog food, large collars, and strong chew toys for big dogs.
For specialty food for pets on a diet or with allergies, we recommend browsing the selection offered at some veterinarian offices.
Boarding and Kennels
A huge deciding factor for bringing our big dog was the availability of kennels or dog boarding facilities in Chiang Mai. We had plans to travel, but we couldn’t just leave our dog alone for two or three days like we can our cat.
Before we moved to Thailand in March 2013, we browsed the internet extensively for kennels in Chiang Mai. We found nothing. Nothing.
Even today with our cat, we have to ask our neighbors or friends to watch him while we are gone. It generally works out, but what if we didn’t have that kind of network? Talk about stress!
Since we’ve moved to Chiang Mai, a recent online search provided a dog kennel about 25 km northeast of Chiang Mai’s Old City called Lucky Dogs. We wish they started advertising online a year sooner!
Transportation
Motorcycles are a popular way of getting around Thailand. As tempting as it might be (especially after watching the locals do it quite often), they are not a wise choice to transport a pet. We’ve been sickened by the sight and sound of a small dog falling off a motorbike floorboard, yelping as it was dragged by its collar that was still leashed to the handlebars.
We planned on riding a motorbike in Thailand, but bringing our big dog would have prompted us to buy a car. In a bind, or for short distances, we might have found a songthaew or tuk-tuk that allowed pets on board. But in the case of longer or more isolated road trips, or even emergencies, we would’ve needed a car. Unfortunately, a car is a much larger investment than a motorbike and an inconvenience in a city like Chiang Mai.
Public transportation that allows pets is very limited. We’ve also looked into train rides with animals, but they are only allowed on third-class trains. No beds, no AC, just hot air blowing in the windows and bench seating.
As for flying, Thai Airways once allowed small pets on board if you booked ahead and paid an extra fee. Unfortunately, they have since reduced their service from pets flying in-cabin to flying as checked baggage only. Breed restrictions are also in place and tickets cost a whopping $238 USD compared to an affordable 360 baht ($12 USD) when we flew our cat in-cabin back in March 2013.
Hotels and Housing
Hotels and guesthouses are a dime a dozen in Thailand, but it takes a bit of searching to find pet friendly hotel. Luckily, our friends have done extensive traveling throughout Thailand with their dog and put together a great list of pet friendly hotels throughout the country.
We wish we’d had this list when we first moved to Thailand! When we flew our cat from the US to Thailand, his flight was delayed because of a snowstorm. Our original pet friendly hotel in Bangkok was fully booked for the next night. We eventually snagged another pet friendly hotel, but only after a stressful search.
Be aware that some hotels unintentionally or incorrectly advertise themselves as pet friendly, only to turn you and your pet away. Make sure to always call ahead to avoid an awkward situation. Also, they may include an extra non-refundable pet fee. Always be sure to clean up after your pets, both inside and outside of the hotel room, to make sure hotels will continue providing a pet friendly service.
“No Pets Allowed” are not just limited to hotels and guesthouses. While house hunting in Chiang Mai, we learned that condos don’t allow pets at all and few serviced apartments do, typically upon management approval. Although it’s not uncommon for pet owners to sneak their cat or dog into the facility, there’s the risk of getting caught. We tried that at our first serviced apartment in Chiang Mai and got kicked out two weeks later.
Our best advice is to rent a privately owned house or townhouse and let the landlord decide on an individual basis.
Is Thailand Pet Friendly?
We think Thailand is suitable for small pets that are content with living indoors. However, we understand that many pets are seen as members of the family and owners would do anything to keep their pet healthy, safe, and in a happy home, no matter what country they travel to.
We are glad we made the choice to bring our cat and not our big dog. As much as we love and miss Oakley, we know he’s happy in a big yard chasing squirrels back in the US with family. Heck, he couldn’t take Thailand’s heat anyways!
I brought my Jack Russell to Thailand when I moved here last year. I have had absolutely no problems with hotels/houses allowing him to live with me. I have had a couple of minor issues with stray cats and dogs, but generally I just shoo them away. Thailand has great pet shops ands vets, I have had no problems at all. It did cost me a lot to ship him over, he was on the same flight as me, I used a company called PetAir who were fabulous. I take my dog into bars, restaurants but the big shops do… Read more »
Hi!
I am moving in June to Nonthaburi. Which is the best/cheapest airplane company to travel with my cat to Bangkok?
Also I am a little worried about apartments/condos/houses that accept cats… Any suggestion?
Thanks!
I’m a retired teacher (and disabled veteran) and have been looking into perhaps teaching English in Thailand. I always loved Bangkok when I visited before. However, I’ve hesitated to applying for a job because I have a service animal (a German Shepherd Mix) and I won’t leave her in the U.S. Does Thai culture understand service animals? Like would I be able to take her to the market, work, etc.
As far as we can tell, Thailand does not acknowledge – and therefore does not make special exceptions for – service animals. Generally speaking, cute fluffy pets (mostly dogs) are welcomed at some outdoor Thai-style cafes and restaurants as well as open-aired Thai markets. However, the chances of taking your pup into a nice (i.e. AC) restaurant, cafe, store, shop, etc is slim to none, although we’ve seen leashes pups at upscale outdoor malls (the kind that are open air with tiny individual indoor shops). As far as bringing your dog to work, you’d have to get special approval from… Read more »
Hi Chris & Angela My husband and I moved to Pattaya from Australia last month and we brought our 2 y/old oriental cat Max with us. We live in a condo with plenty of room for Max to run around in, and as he has always been an indoor cat he is very happy. I worry about what we will do when we want to travel. Do you (or any of your followers) know of any house sitting services or good cat minding facilities in this area? I love your blog. Started reading it a couple of years ago when… Read more »
Glad to hear you’ve brought Max with you to Phuket! Although sounds like you had a similar experience as us (MooShu didn’t arrive on the baggage carousel either and instead we had to pick him up at the cargo facility. So stressful!)
We’ve used trustedhousesitters.com for long-term travel but we don’t know any specific pet sitters in Phuket without doing some digging around on Google ourselves. It seems like a lot of people just ask friends or neighbors (us included) to watch pets for short-term travel. Good luck and let us know if you find anything good!
Hi! Thank you for your post! It looks like me and my husband will be moving to Thailand (BKK) for 4-5 years. We have a dog, a Springer spaniel. We cannot leave him behind for such a long time, we have to take him with us for sure. I have read hundreds of sites about BKK and how difficult it is to have a dog there. There are few parks where you can bring your dog for a walk. But, I mean, it is not possible to travel half of the city to one of the parks just for a… Read more »
It’s wonderful that you are bringing your Sam along. Sadly, no matter how nice and friendly he is, you risk meeting dominant aggressive dogs on the street. It’s certainly allowed, but you risk getting bitten, especially if there’s a pack because they will swarm and you and your pup. Check out pet-friendly (serviced) condos in Bangkok – some have rooftop areas that where pets can run around and use the bathroom, such as iCheckinn Residence, or they are right next door to a small grassy area. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Thailand’s pet culture is just so… Read more »
We have two dogs, Labrador and syberian husky. In our experience Thailand is a nightmare for dogs. The street dogs who can get very aggressive make a small walk in the neighberhood a difficult experience. Rabbies is still a very common disseas here so even a small bite from a street dog can create allot of troubles. There are plenty of facilities such as daycare, dog schools, etc. But Thailand has a vey different approach to dogs than we Westerns do. The dog schools we visited were all very scary places where they prefere to use more violent ways and… Read more »
We hadn’t even thought about dog training facilities. That sucks that, from your experience, the techniques are negative/punishment-based. No good! Definitely agree with having a house with a big (fenced in) yard!
I’m retired from the U.S. and married a Thai woman from Bangkok 10 years ago. We return to Thailand for a year at a time, and have always had a German Shepherd. We took our older (11) Shepherd with us 3 years ago, and traveled extensively from north to south plus some islands. Naturally, having a Thai native spouse helps a lot, but in general, things went well for us. Of course, long term car rental or purchase would be a necessity for doing this, and as we try to stay in tourist bungalows, we are usually more successful in… Read more »
We really appreciate sharing your experience as a dog owner in Thailand. We’re sorry to hear that your dogs gets nipped at by the street dogs, but we’d keep a baton with us if we were in your shoes. It’s good to know that more often than not the rural restaurants let you eat your meal with your pup. And yes, 100% agree to have a Thai friend negotiate the bungalow for a pet friendly stay before arriving.
Hello Mark and Tippaya, Your experience with your German Shepherd is very helpful. My wife and I both love Thailand and we would like to spend 6 months, or longer there, starting in the fall of 2018 when the weather here in Canada turns nasty. We have a 65 pound Australian Shepherd who is very well behaved and trained. Are there any long term rentals you can recommend on any of the islands that will accept a dog this size? We’ve traveled extensively on both the Andaman Sea side and the Gulf of Thailand side so we are not picky… Read more »
Mark: Just read your note here. I assume you are still in Thailand. If so, where have you been? We now have a large dog, Dutch Shepherd, and we’ll bring him when we return (my wife completed her BS in nursing in New Mexico and is working for another year or so). I hope that you’ve had a reasonable time finding accommodations. Did you try finding another Thai to help you negotiate? When I went to rent a bungalow on an island myself, it was much more difficult without my wife (my Thai is virtually nonexistent). I”m from Erie, Pennsylvania,… Read more »
Hi Chris/Angela ,
Do you know of any pet friendly condo’s or apartment in Bangkok? Thank!!
Check out this serviced apartment in Bangkok. Friends of ours live there with their dog. You can do daily, monthly or yearly rental rates. Try it out for a few days before you commit!
I can recommend to anybody travelling around Thailand ( I live here and am speaking from experience ) to book the Ibis hotel chain. They are advertised as pet friendly and they are. I have had absolutely no problems with my 25 kg Boxer staying with me. No extra room charge (avg 1500 baht). Clean modern rooms. I was pleasantly surprised with this find.
We have stayed at several Ibis locations in Bangkok and they are pet-friendly, modern and clean. Same as your experience. However, the Ibis location in Chiang Mai is NOT pet-friendly – we actually spoke with the manager face to face about it and he assured us it was not. Be sure to double check before you book!
Thanks for taking the time to make such an informative site!! I’ve just got a job starting in August in Pattaya and I’ll be moving with my dog Tiago from Malawi, Africa (he’s an African dog so he’s used to the heat!!) and it’s great to have a realistic view of what to expect. With a bit of research I’ve found that there are many pet hotels that offer a ‘daycare’ service which will be fantastic for us as I’ll be staying in an apartment for a few weeks until I get a house with a garden sorted and I… Read more »
Thanks for sharing the dog resort’s information. That’s great for anyone in Pattaya. We wish you and your pup all the best in your new home.
It’s fascinating to get such a full and practical review of pets and small animals in Thailand. :-)
Thanks :) We try our best to put things into perspective for the next person who wants to have pets in Thailand.
Kap kun krap
Where did you buy the cardboard scratch pad for your cat?
Take Thipanet Road south away from the Chiang Mai Moat. At the first four-way intersection with a light, turn right. 100m or so on the right are a strip pet stores. It has cages and pet houses outside with a large sign with a cat or dog above it.
Thanks for the directions and found the place today. I only saw three brands of cat food though – Mee-O, Friskies and some Purina brand.
Know of any pet stores that sell higher quality cat food without a lot of ‘meal’ byproducts or other additives(eg, wellness, innova, natures balance)?
Kob Kun Kap
The same place as the scratch pad has the best variety we’ve seen. We buy Purina ONE, which has salmon as the first ingredient, not grain or rice.
It’s fascinating to get such a full and practical review of pets and small animals in Thailand. :-) I wondered how the Thai treat dogs and cats, and I’m not surprised to read that they are friendly to them, even if they don’t quite have the whole adoption culture of animals.
It’s definitely a different culture here, but good and bad. The good is seeing that the Thais believe that animals should have the freedom to roam outside, wherever and whenever, and not cooped up all day inside. Westerners see this a bit differently, but Thais still care for them in their own way, providing water and scraps and the occasional bath.
We brought our two cats from Dubai in July. Excess baggage is the way to go. Total for both cats was around $300! I adopted my older cat in 2006 in Korea, and she has since flown cargo to Canada and then a couple years later to Dubai. It cost about $1000 each trip, including all paperwork. Ugh! Hoping to stick around here a while. Moving with pets is stressful. ;)
Wow, your cat is seeing more of the world than most people! We ended up paying around $1000 to ship our cat from the US to Thailand. $300 sounds good from Dubai to here. It was the most stressful part of our move too, but we’re glad we brought him. Sounds like you are too!
Was it expensive taking your cat to Thailand? I have been looking at bringing a dog in from the USA to Australia and it will cost over $5000!
Our cat cost about $1050 to ship. He flew as cargo in Lufthansa and weighs about 10 lbs. $5000 is crazy!
Australia has a very long quarrantine for pets, which can be up to six months. All of this you have to pay for. 5000$ is probably only the beginning!
Youre right Meg, i ended up getting a quote of just over $14000 at the end….ummmm i dont think so! Australia is crazy with all their quarantine restrictions.
We brought our dog with us when we moved to Chiang Mai from Dubai. If we hadn’t been able to bring her we would have to have moved somewhere else as we wouldn’t leave her behind (I realise for you it was different as Oakley has been left with family). Mango has thrived in Thailand! She’s less aggressive than she used to be and settled in very quickly. We have an excellent vet within walking distance and medical care costs a fraction of what it did before. Of course having a dog curtails our travelling but we’ve had housesitters when… Read more »
We remember Mango! That’s great to know her behavior got even better, and you’re super lucky to have a vet so close. It cost a lot to get our cat here too (even more than a one-way ticket for one of us) but we’re glad to hear you’ve had a great experience. We read your post where you describe your dog being bit twice in three days by soi/temple dogs and are happy to hear that the living arrangements outside of the city center are safer for Mango. She has wonderful parents! It should be pointed out that another reason… Read more »
Excellent post, and thanks for the link to pet friendly hotels on 8milesfromhome.
I think 1 of the most important consideration has to location, like you pointed out, soi dogs can be a nightmare in the cities. If you have a large garden and access to grass land or unpopulated beaches you will have a much more enjoyable dog walking experience. I commend the few people who I see walking their dog on a leash around Pattaya.
Climate has to be another consideration, will your pet be happy in the hot and sticky climate.
Indeed. Finding a house with a good sized yard outside of town will definitely cut back on the number of soi dogs you encounter, if any. Good point about the climate, too!
Hi Chris and Angela, Excellent breakdown. I never brought a pet over but spending 18 of months of the past 40 months in Thailand I’d say you’re spot on. Be aware that although street dogs are all over the place most seem simply curious to interact with folk’s house pets, and in some cases, they befriend them. I recall a handful of expats who walked their dogs on Nai Harn Beach in Phuket. They’d roll up and 5, 10 or 20 of the beach soi dogs would greet them, and all would play. In general, these dogs give no people… Read more »
Wow, we commend you for rescuing a soi dog! That takes some courage, especially driving on the shoulder like that. We know another couple who have to carry a stick in their neighborhood when they walk around or want to go for a jog. The guy actually got badly bitten in his calf last month! The thing is, you just never know with soi dogs! It wasn’t a risk we were willing to take with our dog, and we hated the thought of having to deal with potential confrontations on a daily basis. Seeing a huge pack of foreign and… Read more »
This is a really informative post, well done guys! Deciding whether or not to bring a pet abroad can be such a tough decision. Kudos to you for doing the right thing for Oakley!
Thanks a bunch! Oakley’s happy, but we’re glad to have brought our kitty with us :)