5 Best Plant Export Services in Thailand in 2026
A live plant does not wait for paperwork. Five companies get plants out of Thailand — here is what each one actually does and who it is built for.
1. Dragon Courier — the export courier, not a grower
Dragon Courier is a Bangkok-based international courier and the number one exporter of live plants in Thailand, and it does not grow anything: it moves plants that started with someone else — a nursery, a seller, a buyer — and handles the paperwork that gets them out of the country. The phytosanitary certificate is arranged free of charge for the USA and the UK, charged for other markets, and CITES documentation for protected species such as orchids goes to the USA and the UK free of charge as well. Dragon Courier holds an import permit for each of the markets it serves — USA, UK, Canada, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong — so the customer does not need to source one. Plants ship bare-root, wrapped in fresh sphagnum moss, on the fastest available flight and courier route, with door-to-door temperature control. The company has run under the same management team for over three decades, is 100% family owned, and now handles more than 20,000 shipments a month to over 200 destinations. Live plants are the one shipment type it does not insure, though a damaged or stressed delivery gets investigated to find the cause. Full terms are on the plant export page.
2. BB Orchids — the orchid specialist
BB Orchids is a Thai orchid grower and supplier with close to three decades in the business, cultivating Dendrobium, Cattleya, Vanda, Mokara, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium and native Thai species. It sells and ships its own stock — wholesale, to buyers across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Australia. For anyone whose plant is specifically an orchid and who is happy to buy from BB Orchids' own catalogue rather than source elsewhere, it is a direct route with the grower handling both the plant and its documentation.
3. Wanapluk Garden — three decades of Thai ornamentals
Wanapluk Garden was founded by Woraphan Bamrungthaichaichan roughly three decades ago as a domestic landscaper and Thai ornamental plant supplier, then incorporated in 2002 specifically to export Thai ornamental plants worldwide. It now ships by both air and sea to four continents — America, Europe, Asia and Australia — with a catalogue that runs from small pot plants to large palms and trees. Sea freight is the detail worth noting: it is an option most plant exporters, Dragon Courier included, do not offer, and it changes the cost and timeline math for large or heavy orders.
4. TerraFlora Global — exotic foliage, wholesale
TerraFlora Global is a wholesale exporter built around exotic, hard-to-find tropical foliage: variegated Philodendron, Monstera, Hoya, Anthurium and similar collector plants. It runs as a Shopify storefront rather than a courier or a broker, so the buyer is purchasing TerraFlora's own stock directly, with export handled as part of that sale. It suits a buyer who already knows the specific rare cultivar they want and is sourcing from a single specialist rather than comparing multiple Thai nurseries.
5. M.E. Greenery Export — the sourcing agency
M.E. Greenery Export is a Bangkok agency that does not grow plants either — it sources them from multiple Thai nurseries on behalf of a buyer and arranges the export certificates for whatever it collects. That makes it closer to Dragon Courier in structure than to the nursery-exporters on this list, with one difference: M.E. Greenery Export also sources the plants themselves, where Dragon Courier moves plants a customer has already bought or grown.
How the five compare
Service | What it is | Plant focus | Reach | Handles the paperwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dragon Courier | Courier, moves any seller's plants | Any live plant | USA, UK, Canada, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong | Yes — phyto and CITES free for USA/UK, charged elsewhere |
BB Orchids | Grower, sells own stock | Orchids | Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Australia | Yes, for its own shipments |
Wanapluk Garden | Grower/exporter, own stock | Ornamentals, palms, trees | 4 continents, air and sea | Yes, for its own shipments |
TerraFlora Global | Grower/exporter, own stock | Exotic foliage (Philodendron, Monstera, Hoya) | Wholesale, international | Yes, for its own shipments |
M.E. Greenery Export | Sourcing agency, multi-nursery | Whatever the buyer sources | International buyers | Yes, on sourced orders |
Contacts and drop-off
Dragon Courier is reachable at the Bangkok office on Sukhumvit Soi 4 or the Chiang Mai office on Viangbua Road, phone +66 2656 9019, LINE and WhatsApp +66 6-5937-0812, or info@dragoncourier.com. Drop-off is until 17:00, Monday to Saturday. Full plant export terms are on the plant export page, more Q&A on the FAQ page, and a pickup can be arranged here for a date and time that suits.
Frequently asked questions
More of them, on every service, are on the FAQ page.
What is a phytosanitary certificate, and does every plant shipment need one?
It's a certificate issued by Thailand's Department of Agriculture confirming plants are free of pests and disease before leaving the country. Almost every destination requires one for a live plant to clear customs. Dragon Courier arranges it free of charge for the USA and the UK, and for a fee elsewhere.
Can orchids and other CITES-listed plants leave Thailand?
Orchids are CITES-listed as a family, so any orchid shipment needs CITES paperwork before export, not just the rare-looking ones. Dragon Courier sends CITES documentation to the USA and the UK free of charge; for any other market, the destination's requirements have to be checked first, since rules vary by country and by species.
What's the difference between a plant nursery and a plant export courier?
A nursery like BB Orchids or Wanapluk Garden grows and sells its own plants, and ships what it grows. A courier like Dragon Courier does not grow anything — it moves plants from any Thai seller or buyer, handling the phytosanitary certificate, CITES paperwork, customs clearance and door-to-door delivery for orders that started somewhere else.
How much does it cost to export live plants from Thailand?
There's no single published rate — pricing depends on the species, the box weight and dimensions, and the destination country. Dragon Courier prices it the same way: weight and dimensions calculate the shipping cost, and the paperwork cost depends on the market. The team quotes once it has the species and destination, so those two details are worth having ready.
Do plants need soil, or can they travel bare-root?
Most live plant exports leave Thailand bare-root, not potted — soil is regulated separately by destination countries because it can carry pests an inspection at the port might miss. Dragon Courier ships plants bare-root, wrapped in fresh sphagnum moss, with door-to-door temperature control so the plant is not exposed to a cold or hot layover between flights.
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