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Lottery online is flourishing, with illegal operations selling foreign lottery tickets several times a day, Finance Minister Bounchom Ubonpaseuth told lawmakers recently. The ministry will take steps to regulate these operations, he said, including investing in a system to trace and identify those responsible for the illegal activity.

The state-owned lottery enterprise has lowered its number of issued lotteries from four to three per week and ended the scratch card lottery, Mr Bounchom added. The move was prompted by public complaints that the lottery encouraged people to become addicted to gambling, and after private business interests were brought in to manage the lottery. Those interests include individuals with connections to the ruling elite, a source told RFA’s Lao Service.

Dokkeo, a 33-year-old woman from the capital Vientiane, won a recent drawing and said she plans to use her prize money to help family members. She also will invest some of it in travel to South Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. She said her phone hasn’t stopped ringing since news of her winnings spread. RFA’s Ounkeo Souksavanh contributed to this report.