Labradoodle Shanghai to Phuket - One Way

There are lots of things that I could write about following our first few days in Phuket, but I think Bella our Labradoodle is probably the most important. That's definitely what she believes anyway!

When we moved from NZ to China we paid a pet transport specialist to move her via Hong Kong so that she could avoid quarantine. I don't think that we would have been able to organise this ourselves and so it was worth the exorbitant price that we paid. When looking for a new job checking the quarantine for Bella was top of the list. Did it exist? What were the conditions like? How long was it? How much did it cost? Could we organise it ourselves?

Thailand was perfect as there is no quarantine for dogs coming from a rabies free area and that have their health certificate, microchip, pet passport etc. We got a quote from a recommended pet moving company and crazily it was more than we paid to move her from NZ and that involved 2 flights, a car over the border and return airport transfers for her. It just didn't make sense. We decided to do it ourselves and this largely fell to my husband, Adam, as I was fairly stressed at work. 

So, to get a pet from China to Thailand there are a few things that you need to do. About a month or so before leaving top up the vaccines and get anything that you are missing, there is a very specific time frame to stick to for this and we used a website for clarifying and getting hold of the appropriate documents. You can them a small fee to get everything you need and you can ask questions too, but I think that cost extra. You have to do a final health check 7 days before the flights and 2-3 days later you pick up the official certificate from an office on the Bund. You then have to email the health certificate along with everything else you have to the Thai quarantine department and wait for them to email you the import license. You can get the import license upto 45 days before you travel, but you can't get it withouth the export health certificate. 

Bella was really over driving to Shanghai by the time the flight came around. We got in the car and she decided to sneak onto Adam's lap and spend the entire 2+ hour journey asleep on him. Adam was thrilled, especially as he was already really hot! At check in we were feeling confident as we had everything that we needed. We were certain. We started having doubts though when the number of staff looking at our documents rose from 2 - 6. They all spoke in Mandarin and really spoke to us. It was pretty scary! In the end it was decided that we had everything and that we had booked her on the flight. We just needed to get some tape wrapped around her box for 20RMB and then pay for her ticket at which point Bella was whisked away from us and only had 90 minutes until take off.

From reviewing the airline's policies we knew that we would have to pay per kg for Bella and as Adam was taking his bike as an extra piece of luggage we would need to pay the flat fee of 1000RMB for it. At the counter one person passed the papers to antoher and then nothing happened for 15 minutes. Great. I politely asked what was happening and the guy shot out of his chair to find his supervisor. He gave me a price and then decided that this wasn't for both items. The new price was crazy and I mentioned what I had read on their website about additional pieces of luggage only being 1000RMB and the supervisor disappeared again. On his eventual return my new bill was the flat fee of 1000RMB for the bike and 1000RMB for Bella. I was not going to look this fabulously discounted gift horse in the mouth. I speedily paid and sprinted to claim our boarding passes and get to the gate as we had less than an hour to boarding. I'm not stating the name of the airline just in case they come after me for more money!

Funnily having Bella on the same flight was almost more worrying than when she flew alone. Was she on the right flight? Did she have enough water? 

After 5 worrying hours and clearing immigration we headed to baggage claim and I was torn between getting my camera ready and rushing to find Bella. I was highly disappointed that Bella wasn't cruising round on the conveyor as I'd been led to believe. Instead I found her lying down in her crate chilling next to Adam's bike. She still had a few drops of water left and she was fine. We called our horel, got outside and proceeded to find water and scissors. Once free Bella happily strolled up and the pavement gaining as much attention as possible.

The following morning we went to the quarantine office to finalise everything. Not the easiest office in the world to find, but we got there. It was empty. 4 desks and no people to work at them. A lady who worked in another office went to find someone and we began processing the paperwork and waiting to find out just how much this was going to cost us. From talking to other colleagues that have moved dogs abroad your fee can depend largely on how nice you are. So, I tried out some Thai, played charades and was the friendliest I can possibly be. 15 minutes and 100baht later and we were free to go. Ironically at 2am I had to pay 100baht for a bottle of water at the airport.

In total Bella's vet visits, paperwork, cars to the vet and flight cost less approximately a quarter of what we were quoted by the pet moving company.

Bella has been unable to believe her luck that she is back living on the ground floor and get out really easily. She has 2 new dog friends where we are staying and several cats to consider chasing, or not. The beach has been one of her highlights, but the fact that she now has a car to ride in is probably her favourite thing. 

Bella's first time back at the beach.

Thanks Adam! Bella wouldn't be here without all of your hardwork.

P.S. Bella just fell in the swimming pool....