The thai lotto is the official state lottery of Thailand. This is the only type of gambling allowed in the country and the prizes can be very high. It is very popular among the Thais and it also draws a large number of foreign punters. These foreigners are attracted to the huge prizes, higher odds of winning, credit purchases and the ease of purchasing tickets online.
Each ticket features a six-digit number. To deter counterfeiting, the government uses a special yellow, thin, smooth paper that features a two-tone watermark of Wayupak, a mythical Thai bird. The paper is also coated with chemicals. If dropped with bleach, it will show stains, but without the chemicals, it will not show any blots.
Many Thais have superstitions about numbers and will search for lucky digits in their daily lives. For example, they may look at license plate numbers of crashed vehicles or highway numbers where accidents have occurred in the hope that these numbers will come good in the future. They may also examine the digits in their birthdates, or seek advice from a fortune teller.
Other people may go to a temple or shrine to ask for guidance. It is common to see people visiting the tombs of revered monks, hoping to receive hints about which numbers will yield the most success. In addition, many people visit fortune tellers for their lottery advice, and some monks even have a reputation for being able to divine the right numbers.
Most lottery winners do not get rich overnight. Typically, it takes years before a winner wins the top prize of a million baht. Despite this, the prize money is still very attractive and it can be used to invest in a business or to make major purchases.
In order to win a prize, the player must match all six digits of his or her ticket number in a specific division. Each digit has a different value, with the number one representing the lowest value and the number six representing the highest value. For example, if you match the first three digits of your ticket, then you can win the third prize of B40,000.
The thai lotto has five categories of prize amounts, with the first prize being worth a million baht. The second prize amount is 100,000 baht, the fourth prize is 50,000 baht, and the fifth prize is 10,000 baht. If you match all six digits in the first prize, then you can claim a bonus prize of up to 220,000 baht.
To claim your prize, you must present the winning ticket together with a proof of ID (for Thais) or a passport (for foreigners). You can also cash sums that are less than 20,000 baht at any authorized lottery venue. Larger prizes are usually paid in the form of a cheque. The prizes must be claimed within 10 years of the date of the drawing. If not, they will be remitted to the government as state revenue.
