Importing Cat From Australia - What Happens On Arrival?

[samran]

Hello,

We'll be bringing up our cat from Australia next month. He will be put into cargo on the same Qantas flight that we will be on. While I understand the paperwork we need to sort in Australia before departure (vacinations etc), I'm a little confused as to what happens on arrival.

From researching other threads it appears that our cat will simply turn up in the excess luggage (?) area of the arrivals hall somewhere near the baggage carousels, at which point we take him to the vetinarian for some cursory checks and an import certificate.

From what I can see, I can handle all this myself, or do we NEED to organise some sort of agent on arrival.

nb. I speak Thai and have a Thai PP etc etc, so if it is just a bit of form filling on my behalf, I can do it myself.

Many thanks in advance.

[chiangmaibruce]

Hi, been there and done that. I made a couple of long posts about it in the pinned "importing a pet" thread. Ours was processed at CNX after transitting BKK. We anticipated (and I think we may have been told?) that he would be treated as excess baggage and come out via the big baggage door. We had spoken to the office who would be processing our paperwork and they were at the airport arrivals area waiting for us. We anticipated a 100 baht fee. And we waited and waited. And then it all came unstuck.

After asking and asking we finally got word that puss had been sent on to the freight terminal. The staffer who was waiting with us said that it was now a matter for another govt dept and left with a smile. And so we trudged around to the freight terminal where I let Mrs CMB do all the talking, stinking hot day, little CMB grizzly. Puss miowing plaintively. Get the picture? And out came the pad as he wrote down all the real and bogus fees/charges. He valued our non-pedigree pet at $2000 for the purpose of customs, and on it went. Then some haggling. Then bent over. The price paid was several thousand baht (i forget the specifics) & then the CMB family all went home for a long cold shower.

Edited May 13, 2013 by chiangmaibruce

[cooked]

We paid 250 Baht for a seat for our pussy cat, Zurich-Bangkok. On arrival 2000 Baht was demanded, my wife had little money as I was arriving an hour later on another flight. Settled for 100 Baht. You never know, they could insist on quarantining the anal, so keep that cash handy.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[samran]

Hi, been there and done that. I made a couple of long posts about it in the pinned "importing a pet" thread. Ours was processed at CNX after transitting BKK. We anticipated (and I think we may have been told?) that he would be treated as excess baggage and come out via the big baggage door. We had spoken to the office who would be processing our paperwork and they were at the airport arrivals area waiting for us. We anticipated a 100 baht fee. And we waited and waited. And then it all came unstuck.

After asking and asking we finally got word that puss had been sent on to the freight terminal. The staffer who was waiting with us said that it was now a matter for another govt dept and left with a smile. And so we trudged around to the freight terminal where I let Mrs CMB do all the talking, stinking hot day, little CMB grizzly. Puss miowing plaintively. Get the picture? And out came the pad as he wrote down all the real and bogus fees/charges. He valued our non-pedigree pet at $2000 for the purpose of customs, and on it went. Then some haggling. Then bent over. The price paid was several thousand baht (i forget the specifics) & then the CMB family all went home for a long cold shower.

Cheers for that CMB.

Just to be clear, all this happened in Chiang Mai right?

[chiangmaibruce]

Yes, it all happened in Chiangmai. It is my understanding that some countries/airlines will allow pets to travel on board, and such animals are treated as accompanied baggage on arrival, but Australian regulations prohibit this practice.

[mangotogo]

Hi, your cat will be considered as cargo even if on the same flight as you.

It will be at the Cargo terminal (not at the excess luggage in the terminal) where you need a customs agent to process the paperwork

If all your paperwork is in order (vaccinations/ import permit form Thailand and last vet check from Australian Government vet at the airport. Rabies vaccinations.

Then you will have still to pay import duty (2-3,000 baht) Be prepared for 5,000 baht additional.

The vet may look at your cat and then you will be asked to keep the cat in quarantine at home for 2 weeks.

If coming from Australia jet pets can arrange all this but it is an expensive process. I am picking up a border collie tomorrow from the airport and it cost my friends $3,000.00 in all.

have a person that speaks Thai with you to avoid any problems and keep cool!

[samran]

Hi, your cat will be considered as cargo even if on the same flight as you.

It will be at the Cargo terminal (not at the excess luggage in the terminal) where you need a customs agent to process the paperwork

If all your paperwork is in order (vaccinations/ import permit form Thailand and last vet check from Australian Government vet at the airport. Rabies vaccinations.

Then you will have still to pay import duty (2-3,000 baht) Be prepared for 5,000 baht additional.

The vet may look at your cat and then you will be asked to keep the cat in quarantine at home for 2 weeks.

If coming from Australia jet pets can arrange all this but it is an expensive process. I am picking up a border collie tomorrow from the airport and it cost my friends $3,000.00 in all.

have a person that speaks Thai with you to avoid any problems and keep cool!

Thanks for that. Now I'm confused as there are conflicting reports where some have said that you just pick up your pet at excess baggage. Or is this simply an australian thing that anything from Australia will be considered Cargo?

[rubberduck]

I brought two bordercollies in from the Netherlands. 2 dogs, passports, chipped, 2 'Varikennels', total +/- 45 kilo = €55 per kilo = total +/- € 2.500,00, upon arriving filling in some easy docs, payed fees total around 500thb, waited 10 minutes, done.

Went outside to let the dogs out on the nearest grassfield where they pissed nonstop for 5 minutes

Back to the next plane to Chiangmai.

[David48]

Samran ... must be a special cat!

Making the Missus happy or has the feline bonded with you?

Photo?