Thai Lotto – Thailand’s official lottery is managed by the Government Lottery Office (GLO), with draws held every first and sixteenth of every month. As one of only two legal forms of gambling permitted in Thailand (the other being horse racing), Thai lotto has become an obsession across Thailand; for many it offers hope of better days ahead.
Superstition surrounding lottery numbers is an intriguing blend of fatalism, faith, imagination and even the supernatural. Numbers may symbolize fate or open up doors to wealth and good fortune – that’s why, even though chances of winning may be slim, people continue buying tickets on Bangkok streets and other major cities around Southeast Asia.
At times, playing the number game has tragic consequences. In March 2015, an individual from Chiang Mai took his own life after the lottery tickets he purchased with money he received from selling his motorcycle failed. According to family members’ account of events, their loved one wrote in their suicide note: he placed all his hope in this lottery-driven process which ultimately failed, and without which his chances would have remained poor indefinitely.
Fate and numbers have long been interwoven, and one popular form of Thai lotto betting takes place at temples where monks provide consultations about lucky numbers. According to Buddhism, good deeds will bring good fortune.
People also believe that certain events can serve as indicators for future lottery numbers, prompting many people to peruse license plate numbers of cars that have crashed or highway numbers which have seen accidents as potential clues for lottery success. It isn’t morbid fascination; rather it stems from a belief that tragedies often precede fortune, with any number following possibly becoming your lucky ticket number.
Other believers rely on messages from the universe more pragmatically, using intuition and life’s little nuances to identify meaningful numbers. My grandfather would base his decisions on how often I shouted at him or how many ping pong balls had accumulated on his bed when he woke up!
And if all else fails, Mae Nak, the ghost of a young woman who died during childbirth, can offer advice. Her shrine on Sukhumvit Soi 77 attracts those seeking divine intervention with difficult decisions or wanting fertility boost. At her shrine is housed a small clay pot which reportedly holds key numbers that hold lottery fortune.