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The dream of becoming rich overnight is a lure for millions of Thais, who follow the lottery draws every week or play at online casinos. However, the authenticity and legit status of online casinos are proven by dedicated bodies, whereas lottery draws are controlled by the local Government Lottery Office (GLO), a deputed body to monitor and manage draws, ticket sales, and prize assignments.
Thais’ Love for Gambling
According to Alisa, the Chief Editor at Thaibets365, gambling is a big part of Thai culture and goes beyond winning or losing money. She sees it as a place to hand out and have fun. Even with the downsides of gambling, she believes many Thais are on board with the government’s move to legalize casino resorts, sports betting, and lottery.
Lottery draws in Thailand occur twice a month, with about 100 million tickets for each round. Stats suggest that Thais love gambling, with nearly 60% of the population over 15 years engaged in gambling games like casino games, sports betting, and government lottery. Also, stats reveal that 45.5% of Thais buy lottery tickets regularly.
Love for gambling is unquestionable in Thailand, but there’s worrying data about youth: 27.5% of gamblers aged between 15 and 18, which is a high percentage of the total population of adult gamblers. Another concern connected to this data is the presence of illegal gambling activities that attract younger gamblers through the promise of gaining easy money. In particular, Thailand’s government has estimated that illegal lotteries are increasing due to several factors:
1) Retailers charge lottery ticket buyers more than the 80-bath face value for a total price of up to 100 or 120 Bath per ticket.
2) GLO sells lottery tickets online and in a limited amount of 17 million units. Each ticket costs 80 Bath.
3) Private companies sell lottery tickets at a higher price, claiming operational costs for the service they provider to buyers.
The Online Lottery Ticket Sale
The ticket sale process is subject to harsh debates in Thailand. While many think GLO should sell all tickets online, others say that physical retailers depending on lottery tickets would get into financial trouble.
GLO launched the lottery ticket sale online in June 2022, accounting for 30 million tickets sold at each drawing round, which impacted physical retailers and private companies acting as retailers. The government is studying the situation by closing down online platforms that sell overpriced lottery tickets, thus violating local sale laws. The government’s investigation revealed that some platforms used lottery ticket sales to launder money.
Fighting Against Illegality
Furthermore, Thailand’s government decided to restrict lottery advertising after finding that some local press often report fake stories of big wins that encourage compulsive gambling and increase the sale of overpriced tickets at land-based retailers. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has finally issued extra limits to TV lottery advertising, a ban on online lottery ads, and a new tax on gambling activities.
Many Thais still believe in the power of superstitious faith to win big, but economists claim that the new tax won’t stop them but will take extra money from them. Math experts said that on 100 Baths invested in lottery tickets, gamblers will certainly lose 94 Bath, which makes the gamble not worth it. The debate on the gambling tax raised a suggestion of redistributing the money among poor communities in the country.
