Thai Lotto is Thailand’s national lottery, managed by the Government Lottery Office (GLO). Lottery draws take place twice monthly – on the 1st and 16th. Thai lotto is one of two legal forms of gambling available within its borders; another option being horse racing in Bangkok.
Official prize amounts range from B30 million for first prize winners and B40,000 for those matching six digits of their ticket number, with smaller prizes awarded based on matching fewer numbers or just the first or last two digits of your ticket number. Winners have two years to claim their awards; smaller sums may be cashed out from retail outlets while larger sums should be taken care of at GLO’s head office in Nonthaburi.
Thais attach great significance to winning the lottery, with grand dreams tied into its winnings and massive crowds gathering each month on January 1st and 16th to watch live TV draw of tickets holder for that particular draw.
While the official state-run Thai lotto is legal and regulated, an underground system of dealers who run illegal huay lottery games exists. This 4-5 times larger market cannot be directly addressed as dealers purchase tickets directly from GLO and mark them up according to both their own profits and local superstitions; especially strong is number superstition; particularly regarding road accident sites or license plate numbers of recently crashed cars where Thais search for hope after tragedy has struck.
Lottery players often become obsessed with finding lucky numbers and decoding signs of good fortune, with some going so far as praying to banana trees, reading candle wax drippings in holy water or asking their children for guidance in selecting winning numbers. Successful lottery players have even reported dreaming or seeing animals prior to lottery draws!
Some rural northern Thai villagers are making a living from drawing lottery-seekers into their small village by selling votive offerings, handmade souvenirs and deep-fried snacks to them. On average they earn about 200,000 baht a day from these visitors, mostly farmers looking to cash in their winnings. While they don’t mind the money too much they do fear unofficial repercussions should foreigners win large sums and would prefer prizes be distributed in local currency so prizes could be cashed locally without traveling as far.