Lottery online

Laos’ state-run lottery is being rigged by private business interests with connections to the ruling elite, RFA’s Lao Service has learned. Drawings often show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky by players. For example, on Oct. 14, the winning number 509 was unavailable to buyers throughout the day, and then mysteriously changed 10 minutes before the drawing began to 662.

The office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on Aug. 17 sent a directive to the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the country’s legal state lottery system, requesting it to work with other ministries to improve transparency in the industry, sources told RFA. But the directive has yet to be enforced. RFA’s Ounkeo Souksavanh and Bounchanh Mouangkham contributed to this report.