1.7m lottery tickets snapped up on first day of digital sales
About 1.7 million lottery tickets were snapped up on the first day of digital sales on Thursday, in the government's latest effort to combat price-gouging that has plagued the lottery for years.
A total of 5.27 million tickets have been made available online via the Pao Tang application.
The digital ticket-selling platform opened at 6am on Thursday and by 7pm, 1.7 million tickets had been sold to about 429,000 people, said Lottery Board chairman Lavaron Sangsnit.
He expects digital sales of up to 2 million tickets per day as the platform’s operating hours last until 11pm.
The Government Lottery Office (GLO) launched the digital platform to tackle the problem of overpricing. Tickets sold via Pao Tang are priced at 80 baht, with no limit placed on the number that can be purchased.
Sellers with quotas can sell their tickets on the platform, while the GLO will keep their real tickets.
"The tickets disappear once they are purchased, while buyers will receive a receipt in the form of an electronic bill or SMS message," Lavaron explained. "The platform aims to boost sales channels for retailers and keep the ticket price at a maximum 80 baht."
The GLO warned that retailers caught selling tickets on other online platforms will lose their quota immediately.