On January 25, a Laotian woman won an extraordinary 1.2 billion kip in winnings from Sibsonglasy lottery’s Joint Venture Lottery Enterprise of Sibsonglasy lottery and plans to use her fortune to expand her business and provide for her children. Khamphen Bouphavong of Lao Development Lottery State Enterprise presented both winners with their prizes; Ms Phonxay Chanthavong from Vangvieng district of Vientiane province won another prize worth 6 billion kip in their 8th batch.
Both times, their lucky ticket numbers were 134 and 662 and it is thought that their winnings will help cover costs associated with education for their children and purchasing a house. Lotteries are widely considered more ethical forms of gambling in Laos and Thailand compared with casinos or other forms of gaming such as lotteries.
In the 17th century, lotteries were originally organized to help finance religious congregations. By the 18th century, lotteries had become such an essential source of funds that they contributed to building 15 churches in Paris alone! Today there are numerous national and state lotteries as well as private company operated games; for example Australia has the National Lottery along with Powerball and Set for Life lotteries while UK has Thunderball; there’s even a health lottery in Chile as well as several regional lotteries around the world!
Although lotteries remain popular, they often face scandal and accusations of corruption. Players have complained in recent years that lottery officials were manipulating results while others accused the company of selling fake numbers or blocking certain ones; sometimes numbers advertised for sale become unavailable only minutes before drawing.
As a response to these complaints, on Aug. 17 the government issued a directive encouraging the ministry responsible for legal state lottery to collaborate with police and other government departments in fighting illegal lotteries, sources told RFA’s Lao Service. According to this directive, drawing times must be reduced from two per week to just once weekly and the lottery company must cooperate with authorities investigating illegal activities such as informal football clubs running illegal lotteries over short messaging services; additionally it stipulates improving transparency at lottery companies.