Lotteries are an age-old form of gambling that offer prizes for matching numbers, with the prize increasing exponentially with every matching digit. Lotteries were traditionally used to raise money for religious congregations and charitable causes, including St Sulpice and Le Pantheon churches in Paris which used lottery proceeds as one of their major resources in 18th century rebuild efforts. Laos has had a lottery operating since 1975 – this talk traces its political, economic and moral history before looking at how it operates within Laotian state institutions today.
Lotterie participation is deeply embedded into Lao culture, providing hope and anticipation to people throughout the country. A highly sociable activity that brings communities together for shared experience and anticipation; lottery plays an integral part in building communal identity.
Luck and fate are at the core of lottery culture in Laos society, so many players adhere to a variety of superstitions when selecting their numbers. Some believe selecting seven is auspicious as it symbolizes prosperity and spiritual harmony while others buy tickets on particular days or times during the day or week – traditions which reflect and add charm to Laos lottery culture.
Recent years have seen increasing scrutiny on how lottery prizes are structured. If a player matches all four numbers on his bet slip, his stake is multiplied six-fold – turning a 1000-kilobet wager into 6 million kip. Critics contend these prize structures encourage participants to pick more numbers in order to increase their odds, potentially distorting results of random drawings and endangering game integrity; furthermore, private business interests running lotteries could compromise it, according to one caller to RFA’s Lao Service said an RFA Lao Service caller expressed similar sentiment.
Lao officials have taken measures to address these concerns. A representative from the Finance Ministry, Vilasack Phommaluck, assured RFA that the committee overseeing the lottery would carefully check each ball prior to being released for drawing purposes and that prize money is calculated as a percentage of total ticket sales.
Laos remains home to illegally sold lottery tickets from abroad, so the ministry is taking measures to regulate these activities, according to Finance Minister Bounchom Ubonpaseuth in his recent speech before the National Assembly. They plan on developing a system to track foreign lottery operators selling products here; those caught selling illegal lotteries will face penalties; also, working with other countries will help regulate online lottery sales via licensing processes and consumer protection regulations; this will enhance competition while simultaneously increasing fairness in the industry.