Thai Lottery is Thailand’s national lottery, run by the Government Lottery Office and held on every first and sixteenth of each month. Draws take place every first and sixteenth, making it one of only two legal forms of gambling in Thailand. Winning requires great amounts of luck, so many locals have developed unique techniques for finding lucky numbers; such as disturbing dreams, reading animal body language or praying to banana trees to try predict winning numbers; fortune telling with bamboo sticks can even be practiced!
As soon as Thailand’s military government took power in 2014, one of their main priorities was lottery reform. A ticket maximum price was introduced in 2015 to prevent price gouging by retailers; yet even with these safeguards in place there remains a strong sense of superstition around lottery numbers in Thailand.
Bom, a 35-year-old bank worker from Bangkok, considers himself to be a master number sleuth. His process for selecting his lottery numbers has become famous among his friends through Line group chat: he compares each number with symbols that might come up in dreams to select ones which match.
Another option is visiting a shrine and seeking guidance from spirit guides, such as Mae Nak. Her popularity among locals stems from her belief that Mae Nak can assist them with any number of problems – such as difficult decisions or exam results.
Temple visits and asking monks for their lucky numbers is also common practice, while Buddhism and lotteries have long been linked in Thailand; Buddhists frequently buy lottery tickets as part of their belief systems which stresses good deeds will be rewarded.
Thai lottery is an immensely successful industry and one of the country’s primary sources of revenue, drawing over 19 million people, or 28% of its population, each year to participate in this popular form of entertainment. While prize money receives most of their earnings, states also reap benefits from selling lottery tickets as revenue continues to pour in.
To prevent counterfeiting, the Thai Lotto has been printed on special paper with an anti-counterfeit watermark depicting an imaginary bird and chemical that glows under ultraviolet light. Furthermore, each number in the lotto features its own barcode or QR code unique to it – further deterring counterfeiters. A barcode is used to verify the authenticity of lottery tickets, and if this number is valid, players can redeem their prize at a licensed retailer; larger sums must be claimed from GLO’s office in Nonthaburi. Thai Lotto players have two options when purchasing tickets: physical tickets or virtual versions available online. While physical tickets provide easier access to more prizes, virtual ones offer greater convenience as they can be bought and redeemed using credit cards or digital wallets.