Prayut gives thumbs up to digital lottery, warns against overspending
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is happy with the latest effort to tackle Thailand’s chronic problem of lottery overpricing by using technology, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Saturday.
The PM was responding to the online sale of government lottery tickets, which launched early this month via the state-sponsored Pao Tang mobile app.
However, Prayut also urged lottery gamblers to avoid overspending or placing too much hope on the lottery, warning that it could put them and their families in financial difficulty, according to the spokesman.
All 5.1 million digital lottery tickets made available via Pao Tang at the legal retail price of 80 baht were sold out in just five days ahead of the June 16 draw.
Another 5.1 million digital lottery tickets were issued for sale on Friday for the next draw on July 1. Thanakorn said they were expected to sell out even faster than the previous batch.
The spokesman said lottery winners would be notified by the app and could choose whether to claim their prize money at the Government Lottery Office or have it transferred into their bank accounts.
The June 16 draw saw total prize money of 247.4 million baht shared between 41,419 people holding 73,191 winning tickets.
Thailand has been plagued by lottery overpricing for years, with tickets routinely sold at many times their face value.
