The thai lotto is an official national lottery in Thailand administered by the Government Lottery Office (GLO). It takes place twice per month, on the first and 16th of every month, and is one of the two legally permitted forms of gambling in the country. Approximately 19 million Thais play the lottery each month, spending 76 billion baht on tickets. The GLO prints and sells tickets to national wholesalers, who in turn distribute them to a nationwide network of 14,760 authorized retail venues. Many of these retail venues are run by disabled people who use the proceeds from ticket sales to make a living.
The standard odds for the thai lotto are one in a million, which is comparable to those of other national lottery games around the world. However, it is possible to identify patterns in the winning numbers that can increase or decrease your chances of winning. For example, the number of spots on a cat’s fur (four is the lucky number), the number of rings on a certain type of bracelet (five is the luckiest), or the dates of the birth and death of a particular monk are all interpreted as signs that the corresponding digit will be lucky.
Another popular tactic is to visit a fortune teller in hopes of finding a hidden message that will indicate which numbers are more or less favorable. While this is not a common practice in the West, it is quite normal in Thailand, where visitors and locals alike head to temples or shrines to pray for luck and hope that the number they have selected will be the winner. Similarly, many will go to the funeral of a respected monk with the idea that their presence will inspire them to select the right lottery numbers.
Players have two years from the date of the drawing to claim their prize. Sums that are lower than 20,000 baht can be cashed out immediately, but larger amounts must be claimed at the head GLO office in Nonthaburi. The winners will need to present their ticket, a valid ID document, and their bank account details to collect the prize. The prize money is not paid out in cash, but a cheque is issued in the name of the winner.
A spokesman for the GLO said that it was important for the national lottery to remain within the framework established by the legal system. He pointed out that there were a strict set of guidelines and regulations regarding how the lottery was run, how prizes are paid out, and how much of the profit would be used for state affairs. The spokesman also said that the GLO was committed to a high level of transparency and accountability.
Until recently, the GLO only sold lottery tickets to national wholesalers who in turn distributed them to retail venues across the country. This was a multi-tiered process, which led to higher prices for lottery tickets as wholesalers and retail vendors put a percentage on top of the price in order to generate income. This has since been changed, and retail outlets can now purchase the tickets directly from the GLO.
