Thai lottery is one of two legal forms of gambling in Thailand and is enjoyed by nearly 19 million of its native residents – it draws crowds each month on January 1st and 16th for official lottery drawing broadcast live on TV.
Lotteries have always been part of Thai society – whether it’s street vendors selling tickets out of wooden boxes strapped to bicycles or office clerks at Krungthai Bank; yet lottery gambling remains contentious as more Thais turn to online lottery sites for entertainment and betting purposes. As retailers see their revenues decrease due to rising online lottery gambling participation rates in recent years, retailers often lose profits as customers turn elsewhere for gambling opportunities.
Thai national lottery (known in Thai as “slaakkinaebng or salak kin baeng”), overseen by the Government Lottery Office, is held every month on January and 16th; draws take place on these dates with winners being announced live via TV and radio broadcasts. The lottery provides both revenue to the country as well as employment for people living with disabilities.
But, despite its immense popularity, lottery gambling remains an increasing serious threat to society. One issue related to lottery dependence is encouraging gamblers to rely on lottery revenues rather than working or saving; this can especially harm young people more likely than older adults to gamble. Furthermore, there have been protests against lotteries as an emblem of political corruption, especially since previous military dictatorships used lottery proceeds as funding mechanisms; protests often include targeting lotteries as a symbol for corruption.
Although the GLO operates an official lottery, many people purchase tickets from private vendors at prices higher than what has been set by government. Critics believe that setting a maximum price per ticket would provide more control and encourage responsible gambling.
Attributes that impact the odds of winning prizes in Thai lotto include total amount won and percentage of winners; these factors also increase with increasing entry count in each draw. Below is a table detailing these chances in various categories of Thai lotto.
Thais take an alternative approach when seeking lottery advice than in the West: visiting temples and shrines to seek advice from monks about which numbers will work out, consulting fortune tellers who sometimes know which digits may do the trick, paying tribute to deceased monks by visiting their temple, hoping that his date of death will reveal which numbers to pick – creating a highly culturally unifying phenomenon that makes lottery gambling a culturally significant form of entertainment in Thailand.