Pet Friendly Hotels And Travel in Thailand

Is Thailand Pet Friendly? Hotels, Travel & more 😉

imageShort Answer – For us. Yes! Thailand has been very pet friendly

After living and travelling with Eden, our English Cocker Spaniel around Thailand for over 2.5 years, we thought it would be useful to compile a selection of Pet Friendly Hotels and information for those wondering if Thailand is Pet Friendly or not.

*Jump to Pet Friendly Hotel Listings at links below:

Pet Friendly hotels chiang mai thailand -Pet Friendly Hotels Bangkok Pet Friendly hotels Hua Hin thailand Pet Friendly hotels Pai thailand Pet Friendly hotels chiang rai thailand Pet Friendly hotels sukhothai thailand Pet Friendly hotels mae hong son thailand Pet Friendly hotels phuket thailand Pet Friendly hotels krabi thailand Pet Friendly hotels nan thailand Pet Friendly hotels ranong thailand Pet Friendly hotels ayutthaya thailand Pet Friendly hotels maesalong thailand Pet Friendly hotels chiang dao thailand Pet Friendly hotels mae sai thailand image


Are Pets Allowed in Thailand Hotels and Accommodation?

pet friendly hotels chiang maiEden jumps straight on the bed in every hotel she visits 🙂

Before we arrived in Thailand we struggled to find a good source of Dog Friendly Accommodation. The information online in English was difficult to find and we spent a few months really worried that Eden may end up becoming a big problem. A lot of hotels weren’t answering their emails and the ones that did were not keen on pets being allowed to reside in the rooms with us. Instead they would be permitted to be leashed outside in a grassy area. Some would say that dogs were allowed on the premises only if they were kept outside the room in a crate.  That was obviously out of the question and not worth considering.

Long term rental contracts with several Condominiums or Apartment buildings were also against pets. So we were forced to start looking at private homes and house listings in the expat community classifieds.

We did eventually find a house sitting request which allowed us to make the move and begin discovering whether Thailand really is Pet Friendly for ourselves first hand. The following information is what we have found out so far.

Pet Friendly Hotels in Thailand

imageThere are hundreds of pet friendly hotels across Thailand

So you can probably guess that after we arrived in Thailand we managed to find plenty of Pet friendly hotels where dogs are not only allowed but welcomed warmly. In fact we have found hundreds and it baffles me that it was so difficult to find this information out before we left the UK with a one way ticket each in our hands. There are however some restrictions that you will need to be aware of if you plan to take your dog or cat with you everywhere that you travel in Thailand.

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What you should know about pet travel in Thailand

1. Some hotels will only except small pets whereas others will love your animal no matter what size. Call or email ahead to confirm that your animal will be welcome when you arrive after a long drive. After you have stayed there once you probably won’t need to do this again for future visits. Unless of course the management changes.

imageEdens best friend in Thailand ‘Lobo’. He’s huge! Call Ahead

2. We would recommend that you and your pup respect the establishment by keeping your dog as clean as possible and not letting them disturb other guests. Carry poop bags with you so you can collect any mess your pet might make so that other pet owners will continue to be allowed to bring their animals along to the hotels in the future. We also carry a little clothes brush with us when we go to Pet Friendly Hotels, this way we can brush the majority of Eden’s furs off of the bed sheets before we check out. You might not think it, but doing this makes a huge difference to the cleaning staff. A couple of the hotels that we have stayed at frequently have all of a sudden decided to not accept pets anymore.  When we have asked why they both said it was because of the fur on the bed sheets that they get left with extra laundry charges. So if every pet owner does their part to respect the rooms, it will keep more hotels pet friendly in the future. 

pet friendly hotels chiang maiWe feel its polite to keep the sheets as fur free as we can 🙂

3. Some of these establishments may charge a small fee to have your pets stay with you, but so far in the whole time we have been travelling Thailand we have only been charged a fee once. The amount was 200 THB or around £4 GBP at the time, and was only because Eden jumped onto a white sheet with wet paws from the rainy season monsoons before we could dry her off. For peace of mind we always ask via email if we are unsure about additional fees.  One hotel we contacted said there would be a flat rate of 1,000 baht for our dog (around 20GBP) however the room itself was only 800 baht per night (around 15GBP).  

It makes sense to check with the hotels before booking. But generally in our experience there is no extra charge for Eden.  

4. Cats. This is a subject we are not experts on. But our friends brought their cat with them from the U.S.A and in their experience, even some of the advertised pet friendly hotels have reacted very differently to a cat arriving at the door rather than a dog (They are worried about scratches on furniture and linen, and sometimes even litter smells). Our friends haven’t had many problems to speak of travelling with a cat, but they also haven’t visited as many hotels as we have. So be aware that a larger percentage of Thai hotels seem to love dogs more than cats, and that may work against you if you don’t confirm that cats are as welcome as dogs in the hotel you wish to visit. You can find out more about travel with a cat by visiting their website: TielandtoThailand.com   

imageOur friends cat, he’s a cutie

5. Rooms will generally be more expensive in the peak season of Nov-Feb and also over the Christmas and New Year period. So keep that in mind when budgeting for your pet friendly holiday. Also we should note that some of the pet friendly hotels we have stayed at will only allow pets during the low seasons outside of the dates mentioned above. Call or email ahead to check if you are worried.

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Are the Street Dogs (Soi Dogs) Dangerous in Thailand?

imageDo these dogs look scary to you? Some local Soi’s near our old home

This question can cause a bit of a touchy subject between expats, because everyone’s experience seems to differ wildly. But for us we have had almost zero problems with the street dogs in Thailand. Yes, they bark at Eden sometimes and they have often run over to her in packs during our walks around the streets of Thailand. But not once has any street dog tried to attack Eden while we have been out walking her.

We have walked the city streets of Bangkok, the neighbourhood’s of Chiang Mai, the beaches of Hua Hin, the backstreets of Pai, the remote villages of Mae Hong Son and even some of Thailand’s National parks, waterfalls and lakes with Eden and not encountered a vicious or crazy street dog.

imageA street dog we encountered in Chiang Mai

We have been called liars for making this statement before, but honestly we have no reason to lie. In our experience the street dogs of Thailand that we have encountered are not dangerous. However, we do know others out here that have had different experiences with their dogs and the soi’s. So as responsible dog owners, judge the situation for yourself and if you feel confident that the local dogs are not a threat to your precious pup, act accordingly.

We should note that we have never walked Eden off leash on the streets and near to roads.  We always keep her near to us and have never let her just wander off alone.  We have seen many owners allow their dogs to do this. 

Dog Food and Treats in Thailand

Dog food and treats are easy to come by and can be purchased in even the smallest of shops.  There are many pet shops all over Thailand and we have never been in a situation where we haven’t been able to find food for Eden.

imageAll of these dog foods cost less than £1

We have gone through and tried out a few different brands of dog food for Eden while we have been here. We now feed her a combination of dry dog biscuits and wet canned food. As well as cans of mackerel fish which she really enjoys and it seems to make her fur really shiny.  Being the pampered puppy that she is, she does get some of our human food most nights as well. 

There isn’t as big a choice of dog treats here as there are in England. Raw hide sticks are in plentiful supply, however Eden doesn’t like those very much.  Soft treats are not as easy to find, you can buy treats like Dental sticks and Pedigree Jumbones ect but they do work out more expensive than what they are in the UK. 
However there are lots of other store and Thai branded treats which Eden seems to like.

imageTreat time! 

You may not be able to find your exact brand of dog food your dog is used to out here, but there are plenty of options and Eden has never gone hungry!  

Our average weekly spend on dog food for Eden is approximately 250 Baht (around 5 GBP) This includes 4 cans of wet food, a 500 gram box of Pedigree dry biscuits, 5 cans of mackerel and a packet of treats.  

Vets, Animal Hospitals and Medical Care in Thailand

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Edens Pills and Vet services are quite cheap in Thailand
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After a visit to the Vets 

The Vets and Animal hospitals in Thailand have all been very good and also inexpensive. In comparison to the cost of treatment in the UK, we are constantly shocked at how low the medical bills are when we are presented with the final bill receipt. The Vets themselves are required to speak English as part of their profession so we have had no problem communicating whenever Eden has needed to visit. Below are a few examples of some treatments we have experienced while living in Thailand.

Vaccinations:

In Thailand Eden has her vaccinations annually, it is very important for us to keep her up to date with the vaccinations so when the time comes to take her home or to another country there will hopefully not be any issues coming from Thailand. 

She has her normal annual 3-in-one vaccination which protects against Bordetella Bronchiseptica bacteria, Canine Parainfluenza virus and Adenovirus Type 2.
As well as this injection Eden has to have a separate rabies vaccination as there is a rabies risk in the country. This is also an annual vaccination.

Eden had her 1st rabies jab before we left England in preparation for arrival into Thailand and for us to be able to bring Eden back to the UK we have to show documented proof that she has regularly been vaccinated against rabies to avoid any quarantine issues. So make sure you do the same.  

We also opted to have her vaccinated against heart worm every year. Although we give her worming tablets regularly, heart worm is a different strain from the intestinal worms that the regular tablets prevent against. It is carried by mosquito bites and we are always advised by the vet that she should have this done at the same time. The Heart worm Vaccine is not compulsory like the rabies shot, but we don’t want to take any risks with our gorgeous puppy.  

The total cost for the annual booster, rabies and heart worm vaccinations was 2,600 baht.  (around 55 GBP/85 USD) 

Dog Teeth Cleaning / Descaling:

imageEdens Toothy Pegs after cleaning at the vet in Thailand

Eden has always had really bad teeth ever since we got her. She is prone to plaque build up and bad breath, even with regular tooth brushing with dog toothpaste. So we had her teeth descaled once.  
 
The procedure requires her to be put under anesthetic but due to Eden’s age (8 years old at the time) we had to get her blood tested to check her red and white blood cells as well as her liver and kidney function. We dropped Eden off at 9am and picked her up at 12pm. We were extremely happy with the service and care of our dog.

The total cost for the cleaning was 2,100 baht, including the after care tablets, this works out to around 45 GBP/68 USD. 
The pre cleaning blood test was an additional 350 baht ( 7 GBP/11 USD)

Dog Grooming

We take Eden to be groomed quite often to keep her fur short due to the hot weather in Thailand.  
Each time we have had it done she has come back well groomed and sweet smelling and we have always been happy with the results. 
Generally we pay around 500 Baht (around 10 GBP) for a full groom which includes a fur cut, wash and dry and sometimes they offer to trim the nails as well. 
There are many dog groomers and pampering shops around and are not hard to come by.  

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Eden Post Groom! 

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So Is Thailand Pet Friendly?

Some say yes, some say no. Personally we think it has been more Pet friendly to us than we imagined it would be. But we also realize that Edens small size, cute looks and good behaviour might have been an important factor in our judgement. Some Thai people are scared of very large dogs and seem to favour Pomeranian’s and toy breeds. We have seen many tiny dogs floating around in girls hand bags and perched in the front baskets of bicycles during our travels.
Eden does get a lot of attention when we take her out with us and generally everyone loves giving her a stroke when they meet her.

imageWho wouldn’t love this face?! 

Dogs are definitely preferred over cats as pets and we very rarely see healthy looking kitty’s. So travelling with a small, clean, well behaved dog would probably be much easier than with a cat. Although we can’t say for definite.

We have taken Eden to many Cafes with us and have had limited problems.  Most cafes allow her to sit with us and she has even been to a few restaurants as well. Generally we ask before we just walk in with her, but if there is a table outside, we will just sit there with her and it is fine. 
She generally gets a good reception where ever she goes to. Some of our more regular establishments that we visit ask us where she is when we go without her!

imageEden at a lakeside restaurant in a small town in the mountainsimage

imageEden enjoying cafes with us! 

One of the biggest problems we have had is that we found that it can be quite hard to find nice places to walk dogs if you live in built up areas. And a lot of parks won’t allow you to walk your dog even though street dogs run freely through the grounds which can be irritating.
Also a few of the big national parks don’t allow you to bring your dog inside, which we think is a little ridiculous considering there are also street dogs running around in there too.

imageWalking through the tea plantation in Mae Salong

If you do a little research into the area you wish to move to, rent a house with a garden, and maybe speak to a few expats in different areas about their pet experiences you can create a nice life for you and your pet in Thailand.

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All this information is from our experience of living and traveling around Thailand with our Dog over the last 2.5 years.

*Other Useful information

Bringing a dog to Thailand – The ins and outs of Exporting a dog from the UK to Thailand.
Info we have categorized under Pets – Other Posts Related to Edens Dog Life in Thailand. Including cute dog videos and some Pet Friendly Hotel reviews too.

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Did you find this post helpful? Thank us with Coffee and Cake

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We both love coffee! Why not ^treat us^ to a cafe lunch if you found this info useful.

Jmayel, Sacha & Eden El-Haj

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