Lao lottery officials are rigging the state-sanctioned drawing game by manipulating winning numbers, sources in the communist country tell RFA. The numbers vanish from purchased tickets or appear as different ones during the drawings. For example, on Oct. 14 this year, the number 509 was supposedly chosen as the winning number during the drawing but only appeared as a 5 on purchased tickets throughout the day before the draw.

Consequently, the state lottery’s profits are being siphoned off to private business interests with connections to the ruling elite. A private company running the lottery pays an annual concession fee to the government but has no official oversight, a government official told RFA.

Experience the thrill of watching the Phattana lottery results live online from 8:00 PM tonight. This live broadcast will report on the outcome of 6 numbered Pattana lottery and Tham Fun lottery draws. A talented storyteller, graduate of Language and History from Thammasat University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, he carries a strong interest in social movements. He started his career by writing literary pieces since school days and now ventures into online article writing with a focus on social news issues.