Thailand’s official national lottery, known as Thai Lotto, is held twice monthly – on the 1st and 16th. As one of only two forms of legal gambling permitted within Thailand (other being horse racing), Thai Lotto is managed by Government Lottery Office (GLO).
Purchasing a Thai Lotto ticket may seem easy, but you must be wary of any scams. Tickets are sold in many shops and gas stations, but to ensure you have a winning combination you should regularly review results online or consult an analyst before buying tickets. Keep in mind that winning the lottery is a gamble so only purchase tickets if you are prepared to risk everything!
If you win the Thai lotto, your prize must be claimed within seven days. To do this, either visit the GLO office in Bangkok or any lottery shop and bring in your passport or ID card when claiming. If you are lucky enough to claim the top prize of millions of baht, second prize amounts often number in the tens of thousands while third and fourth prizes come with smaller sums.
As an extra measure to prevent counterfeiting, each Thai Lotto ticket features a watermark depicting Wayupak – a mythical bird associated with luck – as a watermark. Silk thread can be seen with naked eyes; another type is only detectable under ultraviolet lighting. Furthermore, tickets are printed on special yellow paper with thin and smooth surfaces which make replicating tickets difficult; additionally they’re coated with chemicals which will show blotches when dropped with bleach solution.
Thai Lotto is an increasingly popular form of gambling in Thailand, attracting significant participation by a significant portion of its population. As an alternative to sports betting – which is typically illegal and associated with match fixing – Thai Lotto provides income to thousands of small retailers selling tickets in their stores and using them to pay employees.
Private companies resell government lottery tickets online, but the Ministry of Finance is cracking down. They argue that these private companies are selling overpriced tickets and violating direct sale laws – sometimes even laundering money in some instances – as well as being fearful that online sales will push out stores out of business. Should the ministry win its case and impose an 80-baht cap on digital lottery tickets which would put an end to the reselling of overpriced tickets.