European Vet In Thailand

[PetVet]

Hi there. I'm an experienced Austrian Vet. After 4 years working in the middle east I have enough of the desert and was thinking of relocating to some nice place in Asia. Do you think there would be demand for an european educated vet and a pet clinic with european standards?

[bailly]

I think it comes down to you being farang we have a couple of good vets near my house in a small town up north, and from what I have heard they are good, you would have to check if being a vet is not on the banned list (chances are it is), But aside's from that the way animals are treated here a lot of the time is disgusting so i would think about whether or not you can put up with that, also these vet's are generally for pigs, ox, buffalo and elephants, Dogs, cats etc seem to be classed as vermin in Isaan This is just my opinion though but I wish you the best of luck!

Bailly

[bailly]

Can't see it on the banned or allowed list depends what they mean by animal husbandry, maybe someone else can be a bit more help.

Prohibited types of work in Thailand

Reference :

List Annexed to the Royal Decree Naming Occupations and Professions Prohibited to Foreigners, B.E. 2522 (1979)

The Alien Business Law (N.E.C. Announcement 281). Business activities falling in categories A & B are generally closed to foreigners. Under category C you must obtain a permit prior to commencing business. Businesses outside these categories are exempt. The Ministry of Commerce will also help applications of non trading offices.

Category A:

1.Agriculture: rice farming; salt farming. Commercial Business: Internal trade in local agriculture products, Land trade. Service business: Accounting, farming animals, architecture, advertising, brokerage, auctioning, Barber, hair dressing & beautician. Building industry.

Category B.

1. Agriculture Business: orchids, cultivation, animal husbandry including silk worm raising, timbering, fishing.

2. Industrial & Handicraft: Rice milling, Flour making, sugar, alcohol & non alcohol drinks, Ice cream, Pharmaceutical manufacturing, cold storage, timber, gold, silver and inlaid stone, wood carving, lacquer-ware, match making, cement etc, Dynamiting rocks, Manufacturing garments & shoes, Printing, newspaper publishing, silk weaving or silk printing, manufacture of finished products in silk.

3. Commercial: all retailing not in category C. Or trading not in Category C, selling food an drinks, trading of antiques & fine arts.

4 Service Industry: Tour agency, Hotels except Hotel management, photography, laundering, dress making and service jobs.

5. Land, water & ie. transport.

Category C.

You are allowed to do the following. Exporting, all wholesale trades not in A & B. retiling machinery, equipment & tools, selling food, beverages that promote tourism. Industrial & handicraft Business: manufacturing animal feeds, vegetable oil extraction, textile manufacturing, dyeing, fabric printing, glass ware manufacturing, making plates and bowls, stationary & printing paper, rock salt mining, mining.

Service: anything not in A or B.

[Mosha]

I think it comes down to you being farang we have a couple of good vets near my house in a small town up north, and from what I have heard they are good, you would have to check if being a vet is not on the banned list (chances are it is), But aside's from that the way animals are treated here a lot of the time is disgusting so i would think about whether or not you can put up with that, also these vet's are generally for pigs, ox, buffalo and elephants, Dogs, cats etc seem to be classed as vermin in Isaan This is just my opinion though but I wish you the best of luck!

Bailly

Don't you mean dogs and cats are seen as food in (parts of) Isaan?

[PoorSucker]

Just open a clinic in Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phuket, Koh Samui or Chiang mai.

Many expats living in these areas.

[PhilHarries]

If you can overcome the work permit issue you'd probably, as poorsucker suggests, do best in a farang populated area.

Sick buffalos are treated exclusively under contract from foriegn sponsors.

Sick domestic pets die, unless a farang looks after them.

I think there are government agencies to look after larger animals like elephants but you might be able to work as a consultant with these.

Other than that the quality of care afforded to our dumb friends is abysmal.

[mitmig]

Would love to have a 'farang' vet on the island! When are you coming?!

[Nienke]

I think it depends a lot on your knowledge and skills.

Just as in the West there are here:

* some good and some not so good vets

* some vets who give for any (minor) complaint immediately AB's and cortico-steroids, without knowing what causes the signs and symptoms or what they are actually treating

* some vets where the money is more important than the well-being of the animal.

* vets who can speak pretty good English, at least in BKK and CM.

And as said before, I'm not sure if you are allowed to full-time work as a vet.

[KhunOr]

As a foreigner it may be impossible to get a licence to practice and if one is denied it is definitely not worth the risk to try to do it anyway.

But...if you can find a way around that ... If you are a good vet you will be welcomed (particularly by foreigners here) as long as you don't charge more than a good Thai vet. Have you checked out the rates that Thai vets charge? You might be in for a shock I'm afraid.

[bina]

pm bambina or mangotogo

both vets

bina

israel

[StasD]

There is a big competition in thailand. And better to know Thai because the pets follow commands in thai usually

[PetVet]

I think it comes down to you being farang we have a couple of good vets near my house in a small town up north, and from what I have heard they are good, you would have to check if being a vet is not on the banned list (chances are it is), But aside's from that the way animals are treated here a lot of the time is disgusting so i would think about whether or not you can put up with that, also these vet's are generally for pigs, ox, buffalo and elephants, Dogs, cats etc seem to be classed as vermin in Isaan This is just my opinion though but I wish you the best of luck!

Bailly

I was a large animal vet back home in Austria (cattle and swine), but since 2001 I'm only treating pets. Don't worry, in Middle East it's similar: only expats really care for dogs and cats.

[PetVet]

Can't see it on the banned or allowed list depends what they mean by animal husbandry, maybe someone else can be a bit more help.

Me neither. Think I should ask some government official...

[PetVet]

If you can overcome the work permit issue you'd probably, as poorsucker suggests, do best in a farang populated area.

Sick buffalos are treated exclusively under contract from foriegn sponsors.

Sick domestic pets die, unless a farang looks after them.

I think there are government agencies to look after larger animals like elephants but you might be able to work as a consultant with these.

Other than that the quality of care afforded to our dumb friends is abysmal.

Expats is what I need - and what I would come for. After years of treating cows, bulls and pigs in Austria till 2001 I can't feel the need to treat a buffalo or elephant... My job is all about pets.

[PetVet]

Would love to have a 'farang' vet on the island! When are you coming?!

Maybe first quarter of 2010. Give me a little bit more information about the island. eventually PM if you want.

[PetVet]

I think it depends a lot on your knowledge and skills.

Just as in the West there are here:

* some good and some not so good vets

* some vets who give for any (minor) complaint immediately AB's and cortico-steroids, without knowing what causes the signs and symptoms or what they are actually treating

* some vets where the money is more important than the well-being of the animal.

* vets who can speak pretty good English, at least in BKK and CM.

And as said before, I'm not sure if you are allowed to full-time work as a vet.

*i'm a good one...

*no therapy without diagnosis! we learnt at my university.

*these are rich. I'm not...

*of course the language problem works for me. Even if the vet is fantastic, if he can't understand the client or the client can't understand him it doesn't work out.

I'll try to figure out if I would be allowed. Otherwise I could maybe buy myself into an existing clinic.

[PetVet]

As a foreigner it may be impossible to get a licence to practice and if one is denied it is definitely not worth the risk to try to do it anyway.

But...if you can find a way around that ... If you are a good vet you will be welcomed (particularly by foreigners here) as long as you don't charge more than a good Thai vet. Have you checked out the rates that Thai vets charge? You might be in for a shock I'm afraid.

The rates have to be seen compared to what you need for a living. Where I live I pay 17,000 US$ rent for a studio per year. If living is cheap, why should the charges be high?

And you have to keep in mind that a difference in price must be justified by different quality of service, equipment, care, hygiene, etc. Here we have vets that do a spay in a cat for 30 US$ while we charge 110. Still the clients come to our clinic because they can be sure that the cat survives and is treated following european standards.

[PaulDee]

If you locate in places such as Phuket or Pattaya, your language skills should put you at great advantage. Most vets I've visited speak no English. I assume you can speak German as well as English. Probably the two most important languages (other than Thai) for running a vet clinic in the two cities named above.

[monty]

Here we have vets that do a spay in a cat for 30 US$ while we charge 110

I think here the average charges to spay a female are between 20 and 50 US$.

Neutering males being a tad cheaper.

[bina]

Middle East -- i guess it depends which middle east u were working in. here, anything pet oriented is gaining in leaps and bounds --a big difference from ten years ago even. too bad amost everywhere in the world there are less and less vets dealing with large animals (exotics is an other story);

i enjoyed the year i was a vet asistant partially because i could also help otu with my fave vet (the one i used for my large animals) on his horse/goat/camel circuit. true, there is less demand, u make less (costs a lot just to get out to most of the farms and out to the field to get to the animal, almost not worth the trip)but still amazing. i think that thailand could use a couple of good large animal (livestock) vets even if the vet doesnt make too much money out of it, more of a service to the villages. however, in the villages, there would be almost no demand for pet vets.

u can pm maizefarmer (he posts quite a bit in the farming forum ) his wife is a thai vet, i think large animal only, but she knows her stuff, and maizefarmer is good for rules and regulations /agriculture etc. definately try to get a hold of him.

bina

israel

forgot to add, welcome to our forum. its nice to get input from vets here. of course u do not do consultations diagnosis or anthing specific thru the posts; only advice, second opinions , suggestions-- as a person who is a vet, not as an 'online vet', so no lawsuit problems... but vet input here is often needed. we had bambina but she is overseas studying speciality-- u could still try pm'ng her about regs and things. mangotogo is retired australian vet .

bina

[PetVet]

If you locate in places such as Phuket or Pattaya, your language skills should put you at great advantage. Most vets I've visited speak no English. I assume you can speak German as well as English. Probably the two most important languages (other than Thai) for running a vet clinic in the two cities named above.

This is exactly what I think.

[PetVet]

Here we have vets that do a spay in a cat for 30 US$ while we charge 110

I think here the average charges to spay a female are between 20 and 50 US$.

Neutering males being a tad cheaper.

As I said, it depends what the living costs. 20 US$ can buy you a posh night out in one country and one drink in another...

[PetVet]

Middle East -- i guess it depends which middle east u were working in. here, anything pet oriented is gaining in leaps and bounds --a big difference from ten years ago even. too bad amost everywhere in the world there are less and less vets dealing with large animals (exotics is an other story);

i enjoyed the year i was a vet asistant partially because i could also help otu with my fave vet (the one i used for my large animals) on his horse/goat/camel circuit. true, there is less demand, u make less (costs a lot just to get out to most of the farms and out to the field to get to the animal, almost not worth the trip)but still amazing. i think that thailand could use a couple of good large animal (livestock) vets even if the vet doesnt make too much money out of it, more of a service to the villages. however, in the villages, there would be almost no demand for pet vets.

u can pm maizefarmer (he posts quite a bit in the farming forum ) his wife is a thai vet, i think large animal only, but she knows her stuff, and maizefarmer is good for rules and regulations /agriculture etc. definately try to get a hold of him.

bina

israel

forgot to add, welcome to our forum. its nice to get input from vets here. of course u do not do consultations diagnosis or anthing specific thru the posts; only advice, second opinions , suggestions-- as a person who is a vet, not as an 'online vet', so no lawsuit problems... but vet input here is often needed. we had bambina but she is overseas studying speciality-- u could still try pm'ng her about regs and things. mangotogo is retired australian vet .

bina

Thx for the reply and the hints! I will contact maizefarmer. Don't worry, I will not practice via the forum.

Lupo

[GungaDin]

Hi Lupo.

Welcome to the forum.

Any avian experience?

None that I've been able to find here in 10 years.

Conures, Amazons, Cockies, etc...