BANGKOK: The image of street vendors carrying brown wooden boxes full of lottery tickets on their bicycles has long been part of Thai life and culture. Today, over 28% of Thailand’s native population plays the lottery on an almost regular basis – nearly 19 million Thais! Although more regulation and higher prizes would certainly make things better, there remains something alluring about having such an engaging national lottery that brings people together to seek their lucky numbers!
The Thai Lottery is Thailand’s official lottery, held twice each month on the 1st and 16th. Winning numbers are selected randomly, with results broadcast live on TV. There are two ticket options: Government Lottery (TGL) and Thai Charity Lottery (TCL), each providing six numbers from 1-99 that players may match up to claim prizes.
To play Thai Lotto, players must purchase tickets from an authorized retailer. There are two kinds of tickets available – Government Lottery (TGL) or Thai Charity Lottery (TCL), each costing 80 baht per pair and offering chances for prizes as high as 6 million baht in first prize and up to 100,000 in second and 40,000 in third prizes respectively; winners are announced once all prizes have been distributed.
Draws take place at GLO’s head office in Bangkok and are broadcast live on TV. At each draw, a colored ball will be selected by the draw chairman to determine order for lesser prize draws – yellow for second prize, pink for third prize, green for fourth prize and blue for fifth prize respectively. Afterward, drawn numbers will be announced – one six-digit number representing first prize and five new numbers representing lesser prizes.
Many Thais employ various strategies when selecting lottery numbers, with some believing certain combinations to be lucky. Bom, a 30-year-old bank clerk from Bangkok has developed an elaborate system for selecting his lottery numbers which he shares with friends via Line group chat. His method takes into account religious, economic, and social associations between numbers.
Thais use various strategies for finding their lucky numbers, from dream interpretation and animal observation, interpreting candle drippings in holy water, praying to banana trees and fortune telling with bamboo sticks, to creepy dreams. But ultimately winning the lottery requires pure chance. Yet some Thais still manage to hit big through regular gambling – here are their stories of triumph!