The lottery is a popular form of gambling in Thailand. It’s a revenue generator for organizers, a source of entertainment for spectators, and a potential economic stimulus. Winners, flush with their windfall, might inject it back into the economy in the form of new consumption. It’s also a unifying force that brings people together around a shared dream—that of sudden wealth.

The Thai Government Lottery (Thai: slaakkinaebng, RTGS: salak kin baeng) is the official national lottery in Thailand. It takes place twice a month, on the first and sixteenth of each month, and is one of only two forms of legalized gambling permitted in the country. It’s a popular pastime among over 19 million natives, or 28.6% of the population, and is played by almost everyone who lives in the country.

Tickets, both TGL and TCL, are pre-printed and include a number of anti-counterfeiting features. They’re sold in ticket pairs, with a single ticket costing 80 baht. Draws are conducted on a large video screen at the National Lottery Center in Bangkok. A guest, known as the “Draw Chairman,” randomly selects a colored ball to determine the order of lesser prize draws—yellow for the 2nd prize, pink for the 3rd, green for the 4th, and blue for the 5th prize. Guests then remove balls from machines to show that all prizes have been awarded. A final two-digit number is drawn for the bonus prize of 30 million baht*. * Bonus prize eliminated by the military government after 1 August 2015. The winning numbers are announced, along with the +-1 special prize numbers.