The lottery is one of the two forms of legalised gambling in Thailand. It is run by The Government Lottery Office (GLO) and takes place twice a month on the first and sixteenth of every month. It’s played by more than 19 million Thais — about 28.6% of the population — and has become one of the biggest contributors to national debt.
The operation of the official lottery is relatively straightforward: participants buy tickets and pin their hopes on a sequence of numbers. If their selection matches the winning ones, they win a prize. The draw, conducted through a random number generator, preserves the lottery’s integrity. The prize amounts aren’t large, but they are enough to provide a modest source of income for many players and can change their lives forever.
Despite this apparent simplicity, the lottery has deep religious, economic and social roots in Thai culture. The lottery is more than a game: it’s a revenue generator for organizers, a source of entertainment and a potential economic stimulator. Winners, flush with cash, might inject their windfall back into the economy, and the anticipation of a win can shift consumer behavior as people begin to plan how they will spend their money.
It can be difficult to understand why over a third of the population of Thailand regularly plays the lottery. But to do so requires a deeper look at the beliefs that cloak lottery-playing methodologies. A simple conversation with Bom, a Thai man who chooses his own lottery numbers, offers a glimpse into the mystical rituals that he and other players engage in.
For Bom, the process of choosing his lottery numbers is less about believing in luck than it is about enjoying the activity with his friends. He consults a chart and begins by scribbling down a set of numbers. He then crosses them out in a particular pattern until he’s left with just two digits: 0 and 1.
For other players, lucky numbers come from a variety of sources. Frequently, lottery participants will see them in dreams. Others will visit online gurus who publish cryptic lottery-number formulas and tips that they claim will improve their chances at winning. Even negative events are seen as potential sources of good fortune, and so lottery players will seek out numbers that relate to plane crashes, car accidents and celebrity deaths.