Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Sweden → Thailand
What the official rules ask for on this route, for a family pet travelling with its owner. Enter your travel date and your pet’s details to turn it into a dated checklist.
Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Sweden publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Jordbruksverket says it usually does not know other countries' requirements and gives no fixed deadline or fee for the certificate: the destination's own rules decide, and an official vet in your area issues the certificate.
Limited official guidance. The authority for entering Thailand publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. This is the Department of Livestock Development's English page on importing pets, dated 12 February 2018 and read from a copy stored in 2021, because the department's site does not open from our network. A Thai-language DLD page says applications can now be filed online (e-Movement) instead of by email, so the procedure may have changed. It lists no blood test, quarantine period or banned breeds. Treat it as a short summary under review and confirm with the quarantine station at your port of entry (Suvarnabhumi cargo terminal +66 2134 0731) before you travel.
How early to start
3 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
3 weeks
if it is already microchipped and vaccinated
Counted only from the officially fixed waiting periods. Vet, lab and paperwork appointment times are on top, so start earlier.
Headlines for Thailand
- Import permit needed
What your dog or cat needs
Bringing a dog or cat into Thailand: we summarised this from a short or older official page and it is still under review, so it may be incomplete.
Permit
Import licence application (Form R.1/1) and import permit
Email the scanned documents to the quarantine station and phone to confirm they arrived. The station emails you the scanned import permit within 7 working days (longer if documents are incomplete). The documents are the application form R.1/1, a copy of the owner's passport photo page, proof of vaccination, a colour picture of the pet's face, and a document with the number and species of pets, each pet's breed, sex, age, colour and microchip, the addresses in the country of origin and in Thailand, the expected arrival date and the departure and entry ports. The import permit is valid for 60 days, and the import licence (Form R.7) for 7 days.
Details and the official words
“Import License Application Form (Form R.1/1)”
“The scanned import permit is sent to you via email within 7 working days (In case of incomplete documents, more days are required)”
“The import permit is valid for 60 days”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination at least 21 days before departure
Your pet must be vaccinated against rabies not less than 21 days before departure. Pets from a country certified rabies-free don't need the vaccination.
Details and the official words
“Pets is vaccinated against Rabies not less than 21 days prior to the departure.”
“Pets from free of Rabies certified country do not need a Rabies vaccination.”
Vaccination
Leptospirosis vaccination (or a negative test)
Your pet must be vaccinated against leptospirosis not less than 21 days before departure; a negative leptospirosis test in the 30 days before departure also meets the requirement.
Details and the official words
“Pet is vaccinated against Leptospirosis not less than 21 days prior to the departure.”
“The negative result of Leptospirosis test during 30 days prior to the departure can also fulfill the requirement.”
Vaccination
Distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus vaccinations at least 21 days before departure
Your pet shall also be vaccinated against other significant infectious diseases, namely distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus, at least 21 days before departure.
Details and the official words
“Pet shall be vaccinated against other significant infectious diseases i.e. Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, at least 21 days prior to the departure.”
Paperwork
Official health certificate from the exporting country
Apply for an official health certificate from the authorised body of the exporting country. It must be completed in English and stamped (endorsed) by the authorised veterinary official. The page gives no deadline for how recent it must be.
Details and the official words
Health certificate from an official vet in your area: Most often your dog or cat needs both a passport and at least one type of animal health certificate issued by an official vet. Once you know which certificates you need, contact an official vet near you to help you meet the conditions and have the certificates issued.
Jordbruksverket's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“The Official health Certificate must be completed in English and stamped (endorsed) by the authorized veterinary official of the exporting country.”
“Oftast behöver hunden både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“Oftast behöver katten både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“När du har tagit reda på vilka intyg som du behöver ska du kontakta en officiell veterinär i ditt närområde för att få hjälp med att uppfylla villkoren och få intygen utfärdade.”
On arrival
Take your pet to the animal quarantine station on arrival
On arrival take your pet to the animal quarantine station with a photocopy of the owner's passport, the original vaccination record (and pet passport), the original official health certificate and a photocopy of the printed import permit. At Suvarnabhumi airport there are two stations: near baggage belt 8 for pets that came in the passenger cabin, and the International Animal Quarantine Station for pets that travelled as cargo.
Details and the official words
“Take your pets to the animal quarantine station.”
Good to know
- Your pet must travel in a nose-and-paw-proof crate designed to avoid any risk of injury.
- When your dog or cat travels to a country outside the EU, the rules of that country apply and they differ from country to country. It is your responsibility to find out what applies, to use the right certificate and to make sure the pet meets the rules. Contact the destination's veterinary authority or its embassy in Sweden in good time.
- If your pet travels with wrong or incomplete documents, the authorities of the destination decide what happens: it can be refused entry and sent back, put in quarantine at your cost, or in the worst case put down.
- Contact the destination's veterinary authority, ask for the requirements in writing, and ask whether it accepts Jordbruksverket's health certificate for dogs and cats. Ask about special certificates, sampling, deworming or other treatments (for example Norway requires deworming against the fox tapeworm). Use the right terms: the rules can differ for a holiday trip with the owner and a trip to change owner by sale, adoption or rehoming.
- Make sure your pet meets the rules for coming back to Sweden before you go. If a rabies antibody test is needed to return and its result is not in the passport before the trip, a dog may have to wait up to 4 months before it can come home.
- Planning to bring your pet back to the EU? After a short stay in a non-EU country you can skip the 3-month wait after the rabies blood test, but only if, before you leave the EU, your pet was vaccinated against rabies, passed a successful titer test, and your vet recorded both in its EU pet passport. So do the blood test before you go.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Sweden to Thailand?
We couldn't find this in our summary of the rules, but that summary is short and still under review. Ask the official authority before you rely on it.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into Thailand?
Yes: Email the scanned documents to the quarantine station and phone to confirm they arrived.
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in Thailand?
We couldn't find this in our summary of the rules, but that summary is short and still under review. Ask the official authority before you rely on it.
Does my dog or cat need a microchip?
We couldn't find this in our summary of the rules, but that summary is short and still under review. Ask the official authority before you rely on it.