Street Cats and Dogs Roam Free in Thailand

This essay was originally published on September 3, 2021, on my previous travel blog, Travel Creecher.

Want to listen to this essay instead of reading it? Play or download the audio from my website here.

Unlike the United States, street cats and dogs are incredibly common in Thailand. No one calls animal control or puts them in a shelter, but nor do many people purposefully neglect them. They exist somewhat like wild animals but interact with humans in a way that other wild animals do not. Seeing these commonly domesticated animals live on the streets shocked me when I first moved here. Now, I don’t think twice about it.

Overview of the Street Cats and Dogs in Thailand

It is quite common to happen upon street cats and dogs in Thailand. Most of the street cats and dogs are very friendly and not at all dangerous. Seemingly adopting the Thai culture, most cats and dogs appear to have a sabai-sabai attitude. Often, I see them lying in the shade of a car to beat the heat, completely undisturbed by their surroundings. Only when the engine of the car that shadows them starts up do they leisurely get up and make their way under another car to continue napping.

When I first moved to Thailand, I didn’t realize how relaxed these animals usually are. Instead, I wondered if they were dangerous. After walking hesitantly past enough of them, I learned that not only are they unlikely to be dangerous, but they hardly ever pay attention to passersby. They live on the streets, so human or car traffic is completely normal for them. Thus, their reaction to humans (much like most of their behavior) ends up somewhere between super chill to mere indifference.

Another thought I had when I first saw them was whether they were fed enough. I wondered where they got food and water without owners. As I came to learn, many of these street cats and dogs are either abandoned by their owners or born on the streets. And while an unfortunate number are not well taken care of, some of them are. In fact, depending on where they reside, some are lucky enough to have a whole community of people look after them, all without any individual ownership. So, instead of “street” cats and dogs, they become more like “community-owned” cats and dogs. And fortunately, the number of different communities in which they reside is plentiful.

Communities of Street Cats and Dogs

One of the most common locations for street cats and dogs is Buddhist temples. Many owners abandon their cats and dogs here for care and safety. And while a lot of temples do not want the extra burden of pets, they can still be found at many temples. In fact, almost every temple I have visited since moving here (which is a lot) has at least one street cat or dog.

Another commonplace for these street cats and dogs are at schools. The school where I teach in Kalasin has a number of regular street cats and dogs. Many teachers feed them daily, and students enjoy their presence. They are like school pets or mascots, and everyone at the school sees this as totally normal.

There is even a family of street cats that live at the school library. Sometimes I will eat breakfast there with my host teacher, and they will shamelessly jump on chairs and reach for food on the table. They are fed after the teachers finish eating and stick around for their routine meal each day.

Although, my host teacher said these cats did not receive their daily meal at the library during summer break. Instead, these cats resorted to hunting geckos and snakes around campus. The only reason I know that is because my host teacher said she found the heads of many geckos and snakes lying around outside the library when she returned to school. The rest of the body, she said, was eaten by the cats…

The Condo Cat

Condominiums in Phuket often have several street cats that hang around, and for good reason: the people. Like temples and schools, condos serve as a good community for these street cats to receive food from humans. One cat, however, did not show the same kind of respect back to her many caretakers.

At my girlfriend’s old condo in Phuket, there was one large white cat that always sat in the lobby. Like other street cats and dogs, she often lounged around and napped, paying no attention to the people constantly passing by her. Although sometimes, she would get curious and wait at the elevator doors. Once someone called the elevator and the doors opened, she would run in for a ride. This happened to me once going up to the fourth floor, and another time on the way down from the fourth floor. Apparently, this is common practice for this condo cat.

One day, my girlfriend came home from work while I was visiting her apartment. As she opened the door, she announced a visitor. The condo cat rushed inside, searched around the room, and eventually plopped herself onto the carpet for a nap. She obviously couldn’t stay for the night, so we let her out to continue her adventures.

A few nights later, my girlfriend came into the apartment again. This time, not with a cat, but with a cat bite. Apparently, as she reached down to pet the cat in the lobby, the cat immediately lashed out and bit her on the leg. Being a street cat, my girlfriend had to go to the hospital for vaccine shots in case of any diseases the cat may have. Five shots and 5000 baht later, and I began to rethink the ubiquity of friendliness of these street cats and dogs.

Free to Live, but on the Streets…

I don’t want this anecdote of the condo cat to put a bad image of Thailand’s street cats and dogs. As I said, most are very friendly and need the help of humans to survive. Similar to the monkeys of Lopburi, street cats and dogs are an obvious problem of animals breeding out of control. I’m not sure what help there is from the government to curb this issue, but until there is some sort of birth control measures, the number of street cats and dogs is unlikely to diminish.

As a result, these animals need to be looked after, not neglected. Thankfully, this sentiment seems to be shared among most Thai people I have seen. I often see many street cats and dogs fed by locals and given the care they deserve.

Although, the fact of the matter is that they still live on the streets. They sleep in the street, endure the natural elements, and have no guarantee of food or water. Their life is rough.

On the contrary, someone might argue that at least these street cats and dogs are free. Domesticated animals or animals in the zoo, on the other hand, are not so free. Although, whereas the former lives a rough and insecure life, the latter lives a rather safe and easy one. Whether to value freedom over safety or safety over freedom is not even clear to most humans.

However, I would bet these street cats and dogs don’t give much thought to this philosophy. They are too busy trying to secure food, water, and shelter. Because the tragic truth is, they were never really free to make a choice otherwise…

Subscribe for weekly blog updates via email or follow me on Medium.

Published at https://kylecreech.com on September 17, 2021.