Pet export from Thailand works the same way for every country: an export permit and a health certificate from the DLD station at your departure airport. Your destination sets the timeline, from about five weeks to about a year.
Three sets of rules apply: Thailand’s export rules, the destination’s import rules and the airline’s conditions.
The DLD station at your departure airport issues the export permit and health certificate, 1–5 days before the flight.
Only if the destination asks. NIAH, the DLD laboratory, is accepted by the EU, the UK, the USA and China.
One missing item can stop your pet at the Thai station or at check-in.
Use an ISO chip with 15 digits. The Thai station reads ISO and AVID chips only. For the EU, the UK and the USA, the chip goes in before or with the rabies vaccine.
It must be valid on the flight day. Thai vets record a three-year vaccine as valid for one year, so plan a booster within 12 months. See how rabies vaccine validity is counted.
Get the destination’s import permit or quarantine booking before the Thai paperwork. The Suvarnabhumi station asks owners to bring these papers with them.
Thailand sets no export age. The EU asks for 7 months, the USA 6 months for dogs, and Thai Airways carries pets over 4 months.
Thai Airways refuses 34 breeds as checked baggage, including snub-nosed breeds. Read about large and snub-nosed pets in Thailand first.
Stations issue export papers Monday to Friday and close on Thai public holidays. A weekend flight needs a weekday station visit before it.
The colour shows how long the preparation takes. Tap a country on the map or in the list for its rules.
No import permit for one or two personal pets.
Vietnam route guide
Commercial dogs, including dogs for adoption or resale, are banned.
MAQIS quarantine 14 days; book at least 14 days ahead. By road, only Padang Besar.
Relocating owners only.
Confirmed case by case.
A Lao import permit is needed, even for a short stay.
Clearances approved from 1 January 2027 need a titer test and Form 1.
Dogs: CDC Dog Import Form and a DLD screwworm check within 5 days before arrival. Cats need no US documents.
USA route guide
NIAH accepted by the wording of the rule.
Two rabies vaccines; one pet per person.
Export exam within 24 hours before shipment; several breeds banned.
Quarantine of about 7 days on arrival.
The 90-day wait counts from the blood draw.
Manifest cargo only, on approved routes. Dogs: tapeworm treatment 24–120 hours before arrival.
UK route guide
EU Annex III certificate; pet at least 7 months old.
No quarantine since 12 June 2026.
NIAH not accepted: the sample goes to a lab abroad.
The quarantine waiting list opens only after the titer report.
PALS pet licence, AVS-approved agent and a 30-day AQC booking.
Notify Japan's Animal Quarantine Service at least 40 days ahead.
The pet first lives 6+ months in an approved country.
180 days in an approved country, then Mickleham quarantine.
About 5–7 weeks.
About 2 months; the lab result sets the pace.
4–8 months; the wait counts from the blood draw.
7–12 months; Australia and New Zealand go via an approved country.
We checked each row against the destination's official source between 25 October and 2 November 2026. Minimum time counts from a pet with no microchip or rabies vaccine. Cambodia and Myanmar are not listed because their rules for pets from Thailand are not fully published; pets to Cambodia fly, as the land border has been closed since June 2025.
The points a one-line table cannot show.
Dogs need the CDC Dog Import Form, a titer test and a screwworm check by a DLD vet within 5 days before arrival. They land only at airports with a CDC Animal Care Facility. Cats need no US documents.
Pets enter Great Britain only as manifest cargo on airline routes approved by GOV.UK. Dogs need a tapeworm treatment 24 to 120 hours before arrival.
The DLD signs the EU Annex III health certificate. Dogs to Finland, Ireland, Malta and Norway need a tapeworm treatment. Ireland and Finland still write “three months”, so meet both the 90-day rule and a full three months.
MAQIS quarantines pets from Thailand for 14 days; book at least 14 days ahead. Its conditions also say the pet must not have entered Thailand in the six months before the certificate, so confirm with MAQIS. By road, pets cross only at Padang Besar.
Under the current rules of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), the export exam takes place within 24 hours before shipment. Plan a weekday flight and send the UAE form to the station early. Pit Bulls, mastiff types and other breeds are banned.
The Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) needs a pet licence, an import licence and a 30-day quarantine booking. Only an AVS-approved agent clears the pet. See our PALS licence registration guide.
The same six steps apply to every destination. Only the waits between them change.
Check the Destination and the Airline
Who: you or your agent. Confirm the destination’s rules and apply for its import permit or quarantine place. Confirm an airline takes your pet’s breed and weight; a UK move starts with a cargo route.
Microchip and Rabies Vaccine
Who: a private vet in Thailand. The vet implants an ISO chip, then vaccinates. Each dose shows the date, vaccine name, batch, a vaccine label and the vet’s name, licence number and signature.
Titer Blood Sample, If Required
Who: the vet draws the blood and an approved lab tests it. The sample is taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccine. NIAH in Bangkok tests for destinations that accept it.
Waiting Period and Final Vet Work
Who: you, your agent and the vet. Book the flight, quarantine place and arrival clearance during the wait. In the last 1–2 weeks, the vet gives parasite treatments and fills the clinic part of forms, such as page 4 of the GB certificate.
Apply for the Export Permit
Who: you, or an agent with your original authorisation letter (15-baht stamp duty, copies of both passports). Apply on the R1/1 form through e-Movement or by email to the station. e-Movement needs a Thai address, and a wrong passport number cannot be corrected.
Station Visit and Flight
Who: you or your agent bring the pet, and a DLD vet inspects it. Visit 1–5 days before the flight; we plan about 2 working days ahead. On flight day, show the papers at check-in, or a customs broker files the export declaration for cargo.
At Suvarnabhumi (BKK), the station is on the ground floor of the CE-1 building in the Free Zone. It opens Monday to Friday, 08:30–12:00 and 13:00–15:30, with no appointment. Allow 2–3 hours.
The export papers come from the station at the airport your pet leaves Thailand from. Papers from one airport do not cover a flight from another.
A pet flying domestic to Bangkok and on abroad gets its papers in Bangkok. Hours follow the DLD export permit manual of May 2026. Plan as if no station inspects pets for export at weekends, on public holidays or at night. Most pets leave from Suvarnabhumi, because few international airlines carry pets from regional airports.
The National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH) is the DLD’s laboratory in Chatuchak. It runs the FAVN test, with a pass at 0.5 IU/ml, and is the only Thai lab on the EU and CDC lists.
The vet draws blood at least 30 days after the rabies vaccine. NIAH needs 0.5 ml of serum kept at 4–8 °C, registered on its online form with the vaccination record.
3,000 baht per sample, paid after NIAH emails a case number. Blood drawn at NIAH by appointment adds 200 baht.
NIAH states about 21 days from submission; some owners waited a week, others met a backlog. Plan 3–4 weeks. The PDF comes by email; collect the paper copy or arrange your own courier. Below 0.5 IU/ml: revaccinate, wait 30 days, retest.
Accepted: the EU, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, the USA, China, Macau, South Korea (by its rule’s wording) and the Philippines from 2027. Not accepted: Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii. Their samples go to an approved lab abroad, which needs a DLD export permit for the serum.
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