The lottery is a popular form of legal gambling in Thailand. It is administered by the Government Lottery Office (GLO). It is held on every month’s first (1st) and sixteenth (16th). The lottery is considered a social responsibility project that aims to promote fair play. It is also a way to raise money for charities and causes.
The popularity of the lottery has spawned a large underground market in which players buy individual numbers for only a few baht, as opposed to the government’s 80-baht ticket price. Some experts estimate that the underground lottery is four to five times bigger than the official one.
Choosing lottery numbers is an art, and many people use various methods to find the best ones for them. Some use astrological signs, while others look for patterns in the weather or birth dates. Some even visit shrines to ask for divine guidance.
In this sense, the lottery is more than just a game: it represents a complex interplay of fate, faith, imagination and superstition that reflects the Thai people’s spiritual and cultural history. It unites the population in a common dream of wealth and fosters a sense of optimism, even if most participants don’t win the grand prize.
For most people, however, the prospect of winning a jackpot is enough to drive them to the nearest lottery shop and purchase a ticket. A few hours later, they anxiously await the results. While a few lucky winners can be found, most people will never realize their dreams of becoming wealthy. A study published in the International Gambling Studies journal found that the majority of lottery players are poor and lower middle class.
Many of them are addicted to the game, and even if they don’t win, the experience provides an escape from their daily struggles. Despite its addictive nature, the lottery is not considered a major problem in Thailand. However, some critics say that it is a major drain on the country’s budget and encourages poor people to gamble for money they don’t have.
The government has tried to curb this practice by introducing digital sales through the Paotang mobile application. The government hopes to keep street prices down, which have often reached 100 baht and more for sets of tickets with the same numbers.
For the most part, though, lottery sales are not regulated by the government and have remained a major source of revenue for the government and its associated companies. Some critics have also raised concerns that some online vendors may be selling tickets at inflated prices. However, a Criminal Court ruling last month found that private online platforms did not inflate the prices of government lottery tickets and were only providing a marketplace for buyers and sellers to settle on their own prices.
