The Thai lottery is one of the two legal forms of gambling in the Land of Smiles, and is a popular pastime for millions of people. However, it’s not easy to win the jackpot. The odds are about 100/1.
But some people do win. In fact, the top prize for a six-digit number is only around B20-30 million, and even that might not make you rich. Nonetheless, there’s still a lot of money to be made by those who know how to play the game correctly.
Aside from being a source of entertainment for the Thai population, the lottery also provides a significant economic stimulus. Winners, flush with their windfall, might spend some of it on local products and services. Others might invest their winnings in the stock market or real estate. And a few lucky individuals may even use their prize money to help the less fortunate.
In addition to the top prize, there are also lesser prizes for getting the correct five digits or four digits. A special guest known as the Draw Chairman will select a colored ball to determine the order of the lesser prizes. The winners of the first prize are drawn last, followed by those who get the second and third, and then those who get the fourth and fifth.
Each ticket costs 80 baht and must be purchased in pairs. Tickets include a schedule of prizes, ancillary information, and conditions. The tickets are pre-printed and contain a variety of anti-counterfeiting features. They are also sealed and printed with a barcode and QR code to prevent fraud and to identify the official distributor.
The main reason why Thai street vendors don’t keep the tickets is because they are at the bottom of the socio-economic scale. They buy the tickets legally through the government for about 80 baht and sell them for much more, often pushing them up if they think it’s a lucky or popular number. The sellers do this for a living, and they need to make some profit.
Regardless of whether you’re buying a ticket for the Thai Lottery or a global weekly lottery, all numbers are entered into a central computer database before being drawn. This means that the computers already know what numbers have been selected by other players before the drawing starts. That’s why the supposedly ‘random’ selection isn’t really random at all. Besides, it’s pretty easy to program the computer with algorithms that avoid picking certain numbers.
