The complexities of lottery culture in Thailand are many, but the basics are fairly straightforward. On the first and 16th of each month, hordes of Thai people tune into television to watch winning numbers get drawn on live TV, clutching their tickets in their hands. The government Lottery Office (GLO) oversees the entire operation, which operates under a set of rules and regulations that are enforced to keep it on the straight and narrow.
Those rules include the requirement that all ticket purchases be made through GLO-registered vendors and that all winners claim their prizes in person at GLO headquarters in Bangkok. This limits the number of illegitimate tickets sold, which helps protect the integrity of the prize money and state revenue. The GLO also sets aside at least 28% of all ticket sales for prize money, which is significantly more than the percentage allocated to other forms of government revenue.
The remaining 12% is spent on administrative costs, including a percentage that goes to the cost of selling and operating the machines used for the draws. In addition, all tickets must be pre-printed with a six-digit number and contain a variety of anti-counterfeiting features. Unlike most other types of gambling, all lottery tickets must be purchased in pairs. Each ticket pair costs 80 baht, and a single ticket may be shared between two people.
Despite the rules and regulations, there are still many illegitimate sellers of tickets. These sellers are often found in rural areas and in markets where GLO inspectors are unlikely to be present. They operate out of private homes or shops and sell the tickets in exchange for cash or products, such as fruit. While some of these illegal sellers have been caught and prosecuted, others are not. One such seller was convicted of fraud in 2008 after he sold tickets to a police officer, who later died from AIDS.
The odds of winning a lottery prize are extremely slim, and many players look for any conceivable advantage that might increase their chances of success. Some will consult online gurus, who have web pages dedicated to cryptic lottery numbers formulas and tips that are supposed to help their customers win big. Others will search for lucky numbers in their dreams or in messages from the cosmos disguised as seemingly ordinary events such as car accidents, celebrity deaths and plane crashes.
Fate, faith, imagination and superstition all converge on the lottery, transforming it into more than just a doomed investment in a hopeless cause. Purchasing a ticket means buying into a larger cultural phenomenon that has its roots in Thailand’s religious, political and economic history. In fact, even if the doomed investment never pays off, the mere act of buying a ticket is enough to elicit a sense of social belonging among the millions who participate in Thailand’s lottery every month.
