Meet Our Team

SAMUEL PEEBLES

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO

As a founding partner of Agarwood Eco Capital, Samuel has resided in Thailand since 1999. Throughout this time, he has worked for oil majors in Thailand and Southeast Asia’s oil and gas industry. He noticed the presence of a rural industry based on the fascinating Aquilaria tree species with unique properties throughout Thailand and South-East Asia. Despite his fascination with this tree, Samuel soon found out that the industry used exploitative operational models where wealthy overseas owners and clients bought what they could at the cheapest rates possible without helping local Thais develop sustainable production. His research on building an ethical and sustainable Agarwood farm led Samuel to the largest online forum for Agarwood enthusiasts – Ouddict. Eventually, he met its owner Nadeem Khan and after discussing their visions of the agarwood industry, the company Agarwood Eco Capital was born.

NADEEM KHAN

CO-FOUNDER AND AGARWOOD INDUSTRY CONSULTANT

Nadeem’s first experience with oud oil goes back to 1997 when he was at a social gathering in Leicester. He was standing in a doorway when someone who must have been drenched in oud oil walked past him, leaving an invisible cloud of majestic and otherworldly scent in his wake. Being too reserved to inquire about the smell, he instead decided to frequent mosque stalls where vials of dubious-looking scented oils could be had for the modest sum of £5. It took Nadeem a decade to find what he was looking for in a stall erected by Silk Roads End, a vendor of oud oils and natural aromatics. This started Nadeem’s journey into the mysterious and fascinating world of oud oil and natural aromatics. After spending an obscene amount on oud oil, Nadeem realised that many others shared his passion for this amazing resource. And in 2016 he decided to launch Ouddict is now the world’s largest online agarwood and natural aromatics forum. After Samuel registered on the Ouddict forum as a member, he approached Nadeem with his vision of a sustainable plantation. Nadeem and Samuel shared the same vision, which led to the founding of this company-Agarwood Eco Capital.

SOM OUY

CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

Som’s career has spanned decades in the oil and gas industry, specialising in engineering
and testing capacity for global companies in Thailand. He met Samuel Peebles
in 1999, and they’ve been friends since.
Som began learning about Agarwood’s value based on Samuel’s suggestion and got
fascinated by its exceptional nature. Then he visited Agarwood plantations in Thailand
and discovered people who planted, cared for, harvested, and exchanged Agarwood
plants for their oil. Ultimately, Som loved his new passion and ventured with the great
team to create Agarwood Eco Capital.

NICK LAWRANCE

GLOBAL SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR

Nick has worked in Thailand since 2000 and deeply understands Asian culture. He has been involved in countless start-up businesses in Asia of which many have been very successful. He has generously donated his time and resources to numerous charity projects within the community over many years.

Nick met the founder of Agarwood Eco Capital a few years ago that started a journey leading him to his position today. He recalls Samuel showing him a small vial of oud oil and sensing the incredible aroma. Since then, he has been fascinated with oud, the process of planting agarwood trees to extracting oud oil and delivering retail products.

NARONGSAK MANGTHONG

ENGINEER

Based in Bangkok, Narongsak has been working as a designer for 20 years. He specializes in interior, exterior, and landscape design and has a track record of teaching design at different universities. Places he has taught include King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Rangsit University Campus, Silpakorn University, Chandrakasem Rajabhat University, and Organics Digital Life. In 2016, Narongsak returned to his hometown in the province of Khao Yai Pak Chong – the area in the mountain with a forest. The most natural Agarwood in Thailand happens to grow in this province. There’s also a village in this area that produces Agarwood. To keep up with the new concept, according to which people must work and live in harmony with nature to be happy, Narongsak began to study more about nature and how to bring it into his design work. Within the past six years, he has worked on many landscape design projects with nature in mind. He designed hospitals, recuperation places, residential houses, and tourist attractions.
Having known his experience, Agarwood Eco Capital reached out to Narongsak to work on a landscape design for their Agarwood plantation project.