Thai oud comes mainly from Aquilaria crassna, a Southeast Asian species now grown on plantations, especially in Trat province. It is often described as softer and woodier than oud from other origins, with a fruity facet. Several Thai houses use it and name its region, which makes it easier to recognize and compare on skin.
Aquilaria crassna, the tree behind Thai oud
Oud is the wood of an Aquilaria tree that has filled with resin after an injury. Our article what is oud explains the process in detail. Here we focus on one specific origin.
Several Aquilaria species grow in Thailand. Thai foresters single out two for agarwood production: Aquilaria crassna and Aquilaria malaccensis. The first is the reference species for Thai oud. Its native range covers Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The second is recorded mostly in the peninsular provinces of the south.
In Thai, agarwood is called mai kritsana. It has long been burned as incense and distilled into oil across Asia. That demand came at a cost. Aquilaria crassna is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, in an assessment published in 2018. Wild trees were cut down in large numbers, often with no way of knowing whether they held any resin.
Trat and Nakhon Si Thammarat, two regions named on our product pages
Trat is a province in eastern Thailand, on the Gulf, along the Cambodian border. It is plantation country for Aquilaria crassna. Researchers from Kasetsart University have studied the methods local farmers use to trigger resin formation in cultivated trees there. The name Trat appears in several formulas in our catalog, from different houses.
Nakhon Si Thammarat lies in the south, on the east coast of the peninsula. The south is where Aquilaria malaccensis grows, but our product pages don't specify the species behind the Nakhon Si Thammarat oud. So we stick to the geographic origin the house provides.
This origin label works much like terroir in wine. It doesn't promise a fixed scent. It places a material, and it lets you compare two ouds in the same bottle, or from one fragrance to the next.
Plantations, permits and regulated trade
Since January 12, 2005, all Aquilaria species have been listed in CITES Appendix II. International trade is still allowed, but every export of wood, chips or oil must be covered by a permit from the country of origin.
Thailand bans the export of wild agarwood. Thai oud sold abroad should therefore come from plantations. In 2014, the Thai Department of Agriculture launched an electronic registration system for cultivated trees, which export permits rely on. A plantation located inside a protected area is not eligible.
Most plantations are in the east of the country. Growers raise Aquilaria crassna and Aquilaria malaccensis, sometimes on their own, sometimes mixed with fruit trees or rubber trees. They wound the trunks to trigger resin, then harvest the wood several years later. Plantation oud is not necessarily worse than wild oud. The age of the trees, the inoculation method and the distillation matter more.
What Thai oud smells like
The descriptions tend to agree. Thai oud has a reputation for being less animalic than Indian or Burmese oud, woodier and rounder, with a dried or candied fruit note. The product page for Oud by Aaron Terence Hughes, for example, contrasts a resinous Thai oud with a leathery Burmese oud.
Take these portraits for what they are: tendencies. Two oils from the same province can smell very different depending on the age of the resin, how long the wood was soaked and how long it was distilled. And in a fragrance, oud is almost always surrounded by other materials that change how it comes across. The most reliable approach is still to smell several ouds side by side, on skin, over a few hours.
This softer profile explains a common use. Thai oud is often a good entry point for people put off by the fecal or barnyard side of some ouds. It pairs well with white florals, fruit, vanilla and resins.
Thai oud fragrances in our catalog
The fragrances below list a Thai oud in the note pyramid published on their product page. The notes quoted come from our product pages.
Home Town, two regional ouds
Home Town N°Lon-02 by MysNyx is the most precise example. Guava leaf in the top, tree jasmine in the heart, then Nakhon Si Thammarat oud and Trat oud in the base. The pyramid has only four notes, which keeps both ouds easy to read. It is a 30 ml extrait from the Lone Wolf collection, and availability depends on incoming shipments. Our introduction to MysNyx describes it as a soft, woody take on oud, more approachable than Film Noir.
Comparing it with Film Noir N°Lon-01, from the same house, is revealing. Here the oud is Burmese, set with castoreum beneath tuberose and a leather heart. The mood is darker and more animalic.
Oborotsuki, oud as a top note
Oborotsuki by Tada Parfumeur puts Thai oud in the top, with camphor and incense. The heart brings together jatamansi, rose otto and vetiver, and the base Australian sandalwood, patchouli and orris concrete. Camphor and incense pull the oud toward a fresh, resinous register rather than a gourmand one. Co-signed by Tada Archawong and Prin Lomros, it has been discontinued by the house and stays in our catalog while bottles last.
Oud Noir, a rounded Thai oud
Oud Noir by Aaron Terence Hughes shows how a house outside Thailand uses Thai oud. Cinnamon and saffron in the top, plum and amaretto in the heart, Thai oud, benzoin and vanilla in the base. The product page lists a 35% extrait with 5% oud. Plum and amaretto extend the fruity facet attributed to this origin.
Oud and Morpheus, two other approaches
Oud, from the same house, puts Thai oud and Burmese oud in the same base, with benzoin, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and ambergris. It is a good bottle for smelling the two origins together. Morpheus is drier: cardamom, pink pepper and frankincense, then amber, osmanthus and tonka bean, over Thai oud, sandalwood, vetiver and patchouli. Our introduction to Aaron Terence Hughes explains why these extraits call for just one or two sprays.
Thai perfume houses and oud
The Thai houses in our catalog don't all treat oud the same way. MysNyx, whose fragrances are composed by its founder Nick, reserves it for its Lone Wolf line of extraits: two of the three fragrances are built on oud, with their origins listed. The MysNyx collection brings together all nine fragrances.
At Tada Parfumeur, oud appears only now and then. According to our introduction to the house, Tada Archawong used several Thai ouds for his Divine Comedy trilogy, including a Trat oud in Purgatorio. Those three fragrances are not in our catalog. His second house, Shaman Perfumery, has no oud in any of its five fragrances, which center on ambergris, vanilla, rose, jasmine and myrrh.
Bortnikoff, founded in Thailand in 2018 by Dmitry Bortnikoff, distills a large share of its own oils. The product pages list a Trat oud in Yuzu Cologne, with yuzu, elemi, ambergris, Siam benzoin and vanilla, and in Sayat Nova, alongside ouds from Laos and Bengal. Oud Maximus uses Trat oud roots. Our introduction to Bortnikoff covers its oud origins in detail. Availability of its fragrances depends on incoming shipments.
FAQ
What is the difference between Thai oud and Indian oud?
Thai oud is generally described as softer, woodier and fruitier. Indian ouds have a reputation for being more animalic and more fermented. These are tendencies, and wood quality and distillation can contradict them.
What tree does Thai oud come from?
Mainly Aquilaria crassna, the species grown on plantations in the east of the country, including those in Trat. Aquilaria malaccensis also grows in Thailand, mostly in the south. Fragrance product pages rarely name the exact species.
Is Thai oud legal?
Yes, if it comes from registered plantations and is exported with a CITES permit. Thailand bans the export of wild agarwood. All Aquilaria species have been listed in CITES Appendix II since 2005.
Is a Thai oud fragrance good for trying oud for the first time?
Often, yes. Its rounder profile is less off-putting than some animalic ouds. Home Town or Oud Noir are good ways in, as long as you go easy with the extraits.
What does Trat oud mean on a product page?
It means the oil comes from Trat province, in eastern Thailand, a plantation region for Aquilaria crassna. It tells you about origin, not about quality or concentration.
To place these houses within the niche landscape, see our niche perfumery guide. Every fragrance mentioned here is available as a 2 ml sample on our samples page. It is the simplest way to compare a Trat oud, a Thai oud with no stated origin and a Burmese oud.