Marketing students at Lanna Polytechnic College in Chiang Mai are doing their coursework in front of a camera, live-selling electronics and IT products online as part of a formal curriculum partnership with Niyom Panich, one of northern Thailand’s largest distributors of electrical appliances, motorcycles and computer equipment. The programme has been running for five years and currently has more than 30 students working as online sellers, influencers or YouTubers.
The setup is straightforward: students are trained on products by the company’s sales team, then go live to sell phones, tablets, laptops, appliances and motorcycles. Orders and fulfilment are handled by Niyom Panich; students earn commission on sales, treated the same as any company salesperson. There are no sales targets — the emphasis is on hands-on learning rather than hitting numbers.
Business administration department head Natthapon Unpak said the programme had been running continuously, with students gaining real sales experience that translates directly to running their own online businesses after graduation. Academic deputy director Khanchit Mekkhala described it as a classroom where transactions are real, profits are real and students can earn income while studying — helping offset living costs for their families. The approach has resonated: enrolment at the college is up around 10% for the 2026 academic year.
Marketing students Sirilak Jongthon and Warissara Klanham said the most popular products were predictably phones, laptops and tablets — and that the product training from the company’s sales team gave them skills they expected to use well beyond graduation.
