Temples, cafés, good hearts: Where abandoned dogs find care in this Thai city

MAE SOT, Thailand — As dawn breaks, barks echo across the courtyard of Wat Aranyakhet, a local Buddhist temple. Abbot Khanthi Arankit steps out of his quarters to find a lone basket perched on the temple’s front step. 

Inside: a litter of puppies crammed into a shallow basket, squirming and whining, their mother nowhere in sight. 

“It’s normal to see a basket of dogs left at temples, especially after mating season,” said Abbot Arankit. Having spent more than 40 years at Wat Aranyakhet, he says such “doorstep gifts” are not unusual. Still, each time a basket appears, he feels the same sting of sadness.

While data on the number of strays roaming the streets of Mae Sot is lacking, a survey conducted by the district’s livestock office in 2018 recorded around 1,000. 

The rising number of street animals increases the chances of sickness and disease among humans and strays, according to animal welfare group Rescue Paws Thailand. 

The daily routine of the 63-year-old abbot includes these abandoned dogs — feeding them, washing them, and providing medical care. 

“One month of medicine costs 40 baht ($1.60). Three months is 600 baht — very expensive,” he said. Yet he continues, treating them less like strays and more like “friends, companions” who share the temple courtyard.

Temples in Mae Sot are regarded as culturally accepted spaces where stray dogs find refuge, said the Abbot. 

“They know that the temple is a peace zone,” he said. “If they leave their dogs here, we will not kill or hurt them.” 

However, the temple’s promised generosity has made it a destination for unwanted pets whose owners cannot afford to keep them. Without stronger support, the problem will only multiply.

In Mae Sot, it is just as easy to buy a pet as it is to abandon one, said Abbot Arankit. With minimal formal restrictions on owning animals, many locals only realize after buying a pet how “overwhelming” the upkeep can be.

Mae Sot has little formal infrastructure for stray animals, with only one official shelter located outside the district. 

“Not many people know about this place,” said Mr Phanuwit, 28, a veterinarian at Nakhon Mae Sot Animal Hospital. The municipality focuses resources on other areas such as education, he added. 

Bangkok has recently taken steps to rein in this trend. From 2026, pet owners in Thailand’s capital will face stricter rules such as limits on the number of dogs per household depending on the size of the owner’s property. 

Pet registration will be mandatory, and releasing dogs into public spaces will also be prohibited.

Mae Sot should also have more structured policies to take care of and control stray dogs, Mr Phanuwit feels. “If you can control Bangkok, then you can easily control the rural [areas] also.”

Sterilization is key to controlling the growing population, helping to prevent cancer and canine diseases, he emphasized. 

Abbot Arankit calls for more structured policies as well. During a visit to Singapore, he observed and agreed with how local authorities enforced regulations: “The government sees the problem first and fixes it quickly. They don’t wait.” 

In Mae Sot, ownership is more casual, he said. “There are fewer regulations here, and people’s mentality is ‘if you cannot handle, you leave them to the temple.’”

Kindness for every stray

Where formal systems fall short, individuals step in. 

As dusk spills over the backyard of Ms Sap’s (not her real name) cafe, more than 20 dogs start padding slowly towards the building. Every evening at 5 pm, the 45-year-old cafe worker, who requested her cafe name be kept anonymous, sets out a mixture of rice and chicken for these strays. 

“I used to be afraid of dogs,” she admitted. “But I feel very bad for them…. I want them to be able to help themselves. I will feed them and treat them so they can sustain themselves.”

For strays with serious injuries, she brings them to Ohana animal clinic for treatment, paying out of her pocket. 

Two months ago, she found Skinny, a black dog that had been abandoned in the middle of a motorway, and suffered a car accident. He was emaciated and had a permanent limp. She set aside nearly 70,000 baht for Skinny’s care and treatment.

Ms Sap also frequently makes the trip to a roundabout along Mit Maitre Road to feed the dogs there. The roundabout straddling the Thai-Myanmar border has become an infamous gathering point for these strays. 

There, she recalled witnessing another dog dashing onto the road and being hit by an oncoming car. But it was “too traumatized” to let people near him and refused professional treatment. 

“He is still waiting for his owner now, three or four months already,” she said, often seeing him circle the roundabout.

Until stronger systems are in place, the responsibility of caring for Mae Sot’s strays will continue to fall on the kindness of temples and a few individuals like Ms Sap. 

Abbot Arankit has cared for temple dogs for decades, quietly taking in litters left at the gates. “Every temple is the same story. If they are left here, then we take care of them,” he said.

Ms Sap will remain a steady pillar of care: “There are so many dogs, and I cannot adopt all of them. If I see injuries, I just do my best to help them.” – Rappler.com