Lotteries have long been used as an important means of funding the church in Europe since the 18th century, as well as other institutions like universities and hospitals; lottery proceeds also help finance major construction projects such as St Sulpice in Paris or Le Pantheon elsewhere in France.
The Lao Lottery was established in 1975 as a state enterprise managed by the government of Laos. Offering various games such as Lotto, Powerball, Set for Life and Health Lottery; prize pools can vary for each game with Lotto offering jackpot prizes typically around US$5 Million while maximum prize for Powerball being $422 Million.
Cheng Saephan of Portland, Oregon who won half of last month’s $1.3 billion Powerball lottery prize says he plans to give away his winnings to those who raised him as well as missions trips in Thailand or China. Born in Laos but raised in Thailand before immigrating to America in 1994 under an Iu Mien ethnic background group label, Saephan believes his money should benefit these causes.
Saephan was among the few winners to address a news conference immediately following the drawing, where he and his wife expressed plans for using their winnings to purchase a new house and pay for college education of their children. Any remaining funds will go toward supporting mission trips to Thailand, Laos and China by his pastor.
However, some lottery players suspect the company that operates Laos Lottery to be corrupt. According to reports, unselected numbers often mysteriously vanish from tickets purchased prior to drawings; and observers questioning the weight of balls used in drawings.
Private business interests with stakes in the national lottery are able to manipulate its results as they know which numbers were not selected by customers, according to sources with RFA’s Lao service. Furthermore, many of these firms have connections to Lao’s ruling elite.
The Office of the Prime Minister recently sent a directive requesting that Laos’ legal state lottery, run by the Ministry of Finance and overseen by both Ministry of Public Security, collaborate with them in improving management. Furthermore, two weekly drawings must be reduced to one and winnings handled more transparently; informal football lotteries purchased via short messaging services will also be shut down; land-based casinos in Laos accept players from abroad while online gambling remains illegal within its borders.