Laos lottery officials are rigging the system and manipulating winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the communist country tell RFA’s Lao Service. Drawings show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky, such as the number 509 on Oct. 14 this year, which appeared only as 5 on purchased tickets throughout the day of the drawing. Private business interests running the national lottery pay for a state concession and are paid off by persons with ties to the ruling elite, an anonymous source says. The prime minister’s office sent a directive on Aug. 17 requiring the ministry overseeing the legal state lottery to reduce the number of drawings from two to one per week and ensure that winnings are handled more transparently.