Whether you are a superstitious type or not, there is no doubt that the lottery in thailand is popular. It turns over almost four billion baht each year, which is quite an impressive amount considering the fact that Thailand is a very poor country. The Lottery Office also gives away 440 scholarships each year for undergraduates and provides eight million baht to a number of charities including civil service, military, and war veterans.
Unlike most western countries, which have a more rational approach to the purchase of lottery tickets, many Thais use omens and signs as their guide when choosing numbers. For example, a cat’s spots (the number three is associated with luck), snakes (a giant snake is for the number five and a small one for six), rats (linked to the number one) and other omens are often taken as signs that you should buy a certain ticket.
Many Thais also visit temples or shrines to pray for the right numbers. Some monks have a reputation for being able to divine the correct digits, while others go to fortune tellers in the hope that they will get some helpful hints. After the 2014 military government took power, a number of reforms were introduced, including a maximum price for tickets, which has helped to put an end to the number superstition and to make lottery buying a more reasonable endeavour.
Today, the Thai lottery is run by GLO (Government Lottery Organisation), which has an official website where the results are posted. It offers two different varieties of ticket – the TGL (Thai Government Lottery) and the TCL (Thai Charity Lottery). The prizes for the top prize are exactly the same for both tickets, as is the jackpot sum. However, the TGL ticket is a little more expensive than the TCL ticket due to an additional 12% sales tax that is levied on purchases of this particular variety of lottery ticket.
In addition to the main prizes, there are a number of lesser prizes available for those who don’t manage to hit the jackpot. These include a two-digit prize which awards 2,000 baht for a correct number, a three-digit prize which rewards 4,000 baht for a correct number, and four more three-digit prizes which award a sum of 10,000 baht each.
The odds of winning the main prize are 1 in a million. The prize money is split evenly between the winner and the runners-up. The lottery is played every two weeks and tickets can be purchased from authorised outlets or from street vendors. Until recently, there were some unauthorised sellers who offered lower prices for lottery tickets, but this practice was stopped in 2015 after the military government introduced a maximum price. Nevertheless, there are still some street vendors selling lower priced tickets to foreigners. The best way to ensure you are getting a fair price for your tickets is to buy them directly from authorised outlets. This also guarantees that your ticket is genuine and has not been tampered with or faked in any way.
