The lottery is big business in Thailand, and local news sources are constantly sharing stories of the strange ways that Thais find their lucky numbers. Creepy dreams, omens from the stars and unusual animal behaviour are just some of the methods that people employ to boost their chances of winning the grand prize.
The government-sponsored lottery, known as TGL or TCL (Thansatloet Gamwit), has been around for decades and is a hugely popular pastime for Thais, with 19 million citizens playing it regularly. The lottery draws are held twice a month, on the 1st and 16th, and it’s not uncommon to see hordes of hopefuls clutching tickets at temples and street corners across the country.
Buying a ticket is simple, but the rules are slightly different for foreigners who want to play. Unlike most lotteries, where tickets can be bought individually or as a pair, TGL and TCL tickets are sold only in ticket pairs, with each individual ticket costing 80 baht per pair. The tickets also include a variety of anti-counterfeiting features, and each one is pre-printed with the six-digit number that will be drawn in the draw.
TGL and TCL tickets are not available for purchase outside of Thailand, so if you’re interested in trying your luck, you’ll need to travel to the country of its origin. You’ll also have to be at least 20 years old and able to prove that you are a Thai citizen. However, there are still a handful of unauthorized lottery vendors in Thailand that sell tickets to foreigners.
Bom is a regular lottery player, and he has his own method for choosing his numbers. With a conspiratorial wink, he whips out his phone and shows off photos of a chart containing a wheel and a set of digits. He then pencils down a second set of numbers that are derived from the first, and crosses them out in a particular pattern until he’s left with just two digits.
In addition to dream-inspired numbers, many lottery players also use the omens that they see in daily life to guide them. Negative events like car accidents, celebrity deaths and plane crashes are often seen as omens of good fortune, so people will often choose numbers that relate to them.
Other common omens include strange weather patterns, the time of day and the colour of your clothes. For example, if you’re wearing pink or red when the lottery is drawn, it’s a good sign that you’ll win.
While these methods may seem a little far-fetched to the outside world, it’s important to remember that Thailand is a deeply superstitious nation. Even if the odds of winning a major jackpot are only about 1 in 1, millions of people believe that there are some secret techniques that can help them improve their chances of scoring a top prize. So, if you’re willing to put in some hard work and trust the process, these 7 Thai lottery tips could turn your luck around in no time.
