Chula Marketplace
From snacks, bakery products and other food to million-baht land, living crocodiles and antique weaponry, Chula Marketplace is more than just an online selling space. It's a place of solace and entertainment where members can just enjoy themselves browsing content even if they don't buy anything.
"Some people's lives have changed after posting their products here and they feel so thankful. Some people have even had to stop taking orders," said Panaphon Juntarasugree, founder and admin of Chula Marketplace.
A former student of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Architecture, the 30-year-old and founder of a five-year-old event-organiser company has been fianacially damaged by the spread of the novel coronavirus that has frozen businesses nationwide since last month. After the last event his company organised on March 6, income has gone down to zero. In March alone, up to 6 million baht in revenue was lost.
Although the company didn't close down, Panaphon had no work: "I felt terrible. I was staying home 24/7 with nothing to do."
To make himself useful, Panaphon decided to help his retired mother run her small bakery business by receiving online orders. One of his co-workers also helped out by posting the bakery products on an online market where members are residents of a village. As the orders doubled, Panaphon started to see an opportunity.
"I started asking around about such online marketplaces. I saw one from Thammasat University where only former students can sell their products. I wondered if Chulalongkorn University had it too. I just wanted to sell my mother's food."
From that, Panaphon founded Chula Marketplace, an online Facebook group where everyone is welcome to join and shop -- regardless of university. To sell items, however, only former students, lecturers and staff of Chulalongkorn University are allowed.
Chula Marketplace leapfrogged to popularity and success in no time. In less than a week after its launch, Chula Marketplace drew over 150,000 members.
Criticism is the price of success, though. Chula Marketplace has been hit as being a platform where only rich "Chula kids" sell stuff rather than a generous space where people truly affected by the pandemic could make their living. With high-end cars, 15 million baht watches, beachfront real estate and even multi-million-baht plots of land as items for sale, some people claim Chula Marketplace stops financially-troubled people earning money.
"Stop making drama out of this," Panaphon urged. "In this circumstance, people's burdens cannot be measured by any [metric]. In this marketplace, everyone is equal. All former students can sell their products or services regardless of who they are. Everybody can buy or even just look around."
As for now, Panaphon cannot foresee the future of Chula Marketplace even though, amid the huge popularity of the Facebook group, people are approaching him for more opportunities. With no financial gain, he is now only focusing on making the online market the best place where members can have fun and their different needs are well responded to.
"We are all the same. We are just people who have to make a living. And in time of catastrophe, we are just people who have to fight on."
Thammasat Lae Karn Fak Ran
With the number of members multiplying from 20 to 100,000 in one week, Thammasat Lae Karn Fak Ran (translated as Thammasat And Space For Promotions) is scoring highly on the online shopping scene. Credit is given to tour operator Pawarin Ramanwong for the fresh idea in helping her friends survive during the pandemic.
Pawarin felt empty after all tour programmes were cancelled and her Mexican-style eatery didn't go as well as usual. To ease stress and depression, early this month she set up a Facebook group, designed to be a colourful marketplace and entertainment venue for all Thammasat University students.
Scrolling down the news feed, visitors will be spoiled with the variety of alluring products on offer, ranging from crocodiles, wild boars and turtles to million-baht land, 5-star accommodation, homemade pastries, fashion items and furniture, perfect for people of all ages.
"One day, I just found something to do and I noticed many of my friends posted some pictures of their products on Facebook. Meanwhile, other friends sought ideas for cooking meals during self-isolation. I decided to create a closed group on Facebook so that all of my friends can come to meet and get a bargain," Pawarin recounted.
"We're affected by the Covid-19 spread. It's better if we have space to boost more selling opportunities. I have no intention to earn more income from creating this online market -- I just want to help my friends to find new customers. Our market started selling only snacks and food and I never thought that it would grow so fast like this."
Initially, the group featured 20 members and Pawarin acted as a bridge linking everyone. She commented on every post and cracked jokes to create a friendly atmosphere in an online group. After the members had fun chatting, they started sending invitations to other friends to join the group, making it an instant hit.
Space for sales is reserved for only former and current Thammasat University students, but anyone can go shopping. To provide convenience and save time, Pawarin and her team have created more than 30 catchy tags so that visitors can easily search for stuff and browse the online shelves.
Very flexible and amicable, the members have freedom to discuss different topics or show their skills in calling for customers. Apart from the fun bargains among vendors and shoppers, new-blood politician Pita "Tim" Limjaroenrat also appeared to promote the Move Forward Party -- his posts can earn 19,500 likes in a few hours.
Recognising the potential for the free online market, a group of famous artists like singer Arrom "Cutto" Pohundratanakul and young actress Kemisara "Belle" Paladesh are introducing their Facebook page and YouTube channel.
"This platform is open for everyone to express their opinions. Members can talk about politics but must not use hate speech to ruin harmony or lead to conflict. We should learn to live together and respect each other, even though we have different attitudes and beliefs. Our staff team has monitored content and sometimes we need to delete some negative posts to maintain good vibes," Pawarin said.
"We're developing fun content like a video clip to invite our members to join an aerobic dance class together. This is a community, in which we can once again meet old friends and enjoy time together."
Silpakorn Online Market
As other members are busy selling their goods on the Silpakorn Online Market, a girl posts her love story to find a senior whom she once had a secret crush on. This is just a sales gimmick that architect Kittipat Prakarnrat and his team have used to evoke childhood memories upon a reunion of old friends and make online shoppers smile during this crucial time.
"It's like we're travelling back in time when we studied and spent time together inside the university. This is a place for old friends to share nostalgic moments," Kittipat said.
Due to the Covid outbreak, Kittipat closed his cafe, which is situated in King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, as his consulting services for real estate investment are frozen during the economic slowdown. To kill time, last Monday Kittipat and friends from the Silpakorn University Student Union came up with the online shopping space on Facebook for present and former Silpakorn students to sell and promote their products or business.
"Our group is developed from a chat group in the Line application. We shifted to the Facebook platform to expand the customer base for our friends who are struggling to survive this crisis. Many members have operated the beautiful cafes and resorts but their incomes have drastically dropped," Kittipat said.
Billing itself as a hub of talented artists and craftsmen, this online retail space is drawing attention from shoppers with a wide range of unique handcrafted products, innovative artworks, tantalising healthy bakeries and rare collectible items.
"This platform seems like a sanctuary for our friends to relax, while shoppers can also come to explore the idea source. With our playful characters, our market offers innovative products and services, making us different from others. For example, a shaman, who has specialised in witchcraft, can exorcise evil spirits and wipe out bad fortune from a home," Kittipat added.
Here, only students, alumni and staff from Silpakorn University are allowed to sell their products, though all shoppers can experience the retail space. Visitors can check out a selection of antique deity statues and sacred amulets from a group of archaeology alumni, while a veteran chef provides cooking services at home and actress Chanokwanan "Took" Rakcheep has used fresh orange juice to make healthy cakes.
"Silpakorn University has fostered all students with positive thinking. We're like a family and have always supported each other. Not only young generations, but a group of senior alumni aged 60-70 also joined a group and show their eager spirits in learning new things in the digital era. It's a wonderful moment. Now, we plan to develop the application for our market too," Kittipat said.
Market facts
Chula Marketplace Number of admin: 2Members: around 196,000Average posts per day: 2,000-4,000Sellers: Former students, lecturers and staff of Chulalongkorn UniversityShoppers: Anyone
Thammasat Lae Karn Fak Ran Number of admin: 6Members: around 148,000Average posts per day: 3,000Sellers: Former students, lecturers and staff of Thammasat UniversityShoppers: Anyone
Silpakorn Online Market Number of admin: 8Members: around 41,000Average posts per day: 500Sellers: Former students, lecturers and staff of Silpakorn UniversityShoppers: Anyone
