THAILOTTERY

How to Play Thai Lottery

Written by SaKdIpAt
Wednesday, 31 January 2007


The idea of lottery goes back a very long way towards ancient times. People of Thailand are very fond of being a gambler themselves. Lottery is taken very seriously in Thailand as it is the only kind of gambling allowed here in Thailand. The system is very different compared to the western world. So, here is how it goes.
First, I would like to talk about the image of what a Thai lottery looks like.

As you can see, there is only one kind of lottery available, which is the top one. The other ones are recent, as I will talk about them a bit later on. This form of lottery has been used in Thailand for a long time. It is still paper-based material while many other countries have developed an electronic system to organise the lottery tickets. In Thailand, you’ll have to get lottery tickets from agents, which receive these tickets from retailers. Usually, lottery tickets are drawn twice a month, which are the first day of the month (the 1st) and the 16th. Every ticket costs 80 baht. This is the standard price. Each ticket has 2 parts, the top and the bottom part. It is not possible to buy just one part as they come in pairs. So, every ticket will still cost you 80 baht. However, if you win, your prize is doubled. Every ticket has 6 single digits, which you’re able to choose when you buy one. If for example, in England, the digits could be double digits up to 49 numbers which you would have to pick 6 numbers. However, the stake is so much more but it is much harder to win.

When the numbers are drawn live on national television, there are probably more than 20 drawn every time as they’ll have to draw all of the numbers according to the number of prize stated. Now, the prizes and amount of these lotteries are as follow

First Prize 1 number 2 million baht
Second prize 5 numbers 100000 baht
Third prize 10 numbers 40000 baht
Fourth prize 50 numbers 20000 baht
Fifth prize 100 numbers 10000 baht
Bonus prize* 2 numbers 50000 baht

* Bonus prize is for people whose first 5 numbers are correct but the last digit is incorrect by one number above or below. (For example, if your last number is "5" you can get the bonus prize if it is a "4" or "6".

Next, I want to talk about how to watch out for a fake lottery, which could be sold to anyone. Here are the steps.

A fake lottery has characteristics as follow
- different color from the original
- different paper
- no watermark

If you win a prize, you’ll have to go to the GLO (Government Lottery Office) where you will receive a cheque. However, if the prize is less than 20,000 baht, you can go to a local agent and he/she will give the money to you in cash. There is tax, which you’ll have to pay in order to get the money. The nominal rate is 50 satang (0.5 baht) for every one hundred baht. If you cash your money at a local agent, they’ll normally charge you about 2 baht for every one hundred baht.

Now, I would like to talk about the cheaper kind of lottery ticket which plays like the Irish lotto. A prize is drawn the same day as the national lottery. Here is what it looks like:

There are 3 prices of these tickets, 20, 50 and 100 baht. The first row is for 3 single digits lottery. The prize is set to a standard at 500 baht per one baht. For example, if you win the correct amount in the same order and your ticket is the 100 baht ticket, you’ll get 50,0000 for the prize. However, there’s a second Tote row, which the numbers shouldn’t have to be in order and you can also win. The prize of this tote row is 10 baht for every one baht. For this kind, there will be 4 prizes drawn every time. For the third row, you can choose 2 single digits and if you win, you’ll get 65 baht for every one baht. However, you can also choose the last row as it would be a reverse row and if you win that, you have halved the prize money.

I hope that every person who comes to Thailand they try out the Thai lottery. The chances are much better than the European and American lotteries even though the prize is much less. However, always be aware of agents who try to trick you and be aware of all kinds of theft.