Latest experience(step by step)t bringing dogs to Thailand from Australia

[lemoncake]

I thought i do a post for anyone planning to bring animals from Australia to Thailand, as recently i had to do that.

Anyhow, first let me say, rules have changed. Before one could take dog or cat as excess luggage, which is no longer the case.

I spoke with Qantas, Thai Airways, Emirates, Virgin, Air Asia and i think a few others.

All have said live cargo FROM Australia must go as cargo ONLY.

So off i went to find company to do the shipping, Please note one can do without a company, HOWEVER, Airlines, shipping co's and government made sure you will go mental, so i would not suggest you doing it yourself.

There are too many hidden rules, permits and everything else, to make you fail

Anyhow, there is a large choice of company's, largest one being Jetpets.

I did not really like the official tone of the company so decided to speak with 3 others.

3 others came back with a more personal approach and a cheaper price.

DO NOTE: make sure to read what is included in their quotes.

After receiving 4 different quotes, i started to compare them all.

I found the cheaper ones did not include some injections or something like that.

Dogs need to be rabbi'es vaccinated, at least 3 weeks prior to departure, plus C5(or C9) must be up to date, also another one from memory lepo.... something.

Jetpets inluded all of it in its quote, but to be smart i decided to do my own, DO NOT DO THAT, it ends up costing more.

Also rabbie and lepo,,,,,, something can only be done by AQIS registered Vet.

Animals must have microchip and vaccinations certificate must have microchip numbers. Certificates must all have your full name, same as written in your passport.

Staffy of any kind or cross is NOT allowed, so best to ask Vet to change to anything else X.

Now onto costings, priice depends on the size of the crate, If you not too tight on money, i would go for bigger size to give your animal room to move around.

VERY IMPORTANT. Read what is included in the price. Jetpets offers full door to door service, HOWEVER, in your quote, despite the big words, the only service it includes is from Australia to BKK airport

IT DOES NOT include customs clearance,tax, or any other fees.

I advised Jetpets, i wanted an agent in BKK and wanted to get my dogs immediately on arrival.

Do not be shocked, but Thailand does charge tax on animals. cost of having an agent take care of all Thai related added another $1300

Animals get picked up 1 day before the flight, early morning for final check up and can be boarded overnight(included in the price) or you can take them home,

I left mine there, but went over there in the evening to feed them and take them for a walk.

I went back again in the morning before the flight to go for a walk,

About 3 hours before the flight, Jetpets took dogs to the airport.

Upon arrival, i received phone call from the agent to come to Cargo Free Zone, where i waited for about 30 mins

Agent brought out the animals, took some pics of me and animals together and all is done.

I would strongly suggest organising agent either through Jetpets or yourself, prior to departure, as Customs area is a nightmare and you may end up in some serious problems trying to locate and release the animals.

DO NOTE, crates are pretty big size. Naturally it depends on dogs size, but medium size dog, crate would not fit into a sedan

Animals are no longer sedated when fly and as you can imagine it is very very very stressful for them in a number of ways, away from you, engine noise, other noises, pressure drops, etc etc etc

I have found a company called HAMPL, it is herbal medicine for animals.

Let me first say, i am in no shape or form related to it, but can confirm their products work amazingly.

They have air travel drops, you apply it to animals neck 3 times, before flight with 30 min intervals and it calms their nervous system,

When my dogs arrived, they looked relaxed, stress free and in a really good shape. They knew everything but appeared to be somewhat too lazy to bother.

So i would suggest getting this product prior to flying.

Sorry if report is little messy, any questions, feel free to ask

Oh, total cost for 2 dogs for me was $4300 which covered everything but rabbies and lepo... something injections,

So add another $800, around $5000 all up

Edited November 21, 2013 by lemoncake

[Sheryl]

Lemoncake,

Do you happen to know if this cargo rule is specific only to animals coming from Australia?

[lemoncake]

Lemoncake,

Do you happen to know if this cargo rule is specific only to animals coming from Australia?

Hi Sheryl, sorry missed your question.

I am not too sure about this regulations.

I did call Emirates and was advised i could take them as excess luggage and was going to do that.

When i called back few days later to get all the information how to book, i was told the information i was given before was incorrect and it had to be cargo(rules of head office)

If you visit Thai Aiways or Qantas website about transporting animals, they all say to contact a company.

Emirates website talks about excess baggage, but as i mentioned earlier, they also claimed had to be cargo.

So to summarize- i do not have a clue

[Chao Lao Beach]

I believe that all the Aussie airlines now make you use one of their "approved" pet transport companies who charge like a wounded bull.

I read somewhere that Eva-Air still does it the 'old' way.

I can actually understand the airlines making this decision as it needs "specialized" trained staff at each airport to accept them for Intl flights and many times the staff screwed up as there are different requirements for each destination county and the animals got caught in limbo while still under the airlines care before being cleared at the destination.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Lemoncake, where the dogs in 2 cages?

If not did you inquire.

I am thinking about a dog and a cat who are best friends, (well the cat thinks he is a dog anyway).