Thailand lottery for foreigners

[YogaVeg]

Anyone know the scoop on the Thailand lottery?

I see the Police won 12 million baht. I want in.

 

So my questions:

-is it legal for foreigners to play the lotto?

-will they actually pay a foreigner who wins? (Some countries won't)

-tax schemes I should know about after winning?

-Any risks or concerns to be aware of?

-any English language-friendly places to buy/check tix?

 

Any and all info is greatly appreciated!

[chris2004]

Foreigners can certainly buy tickets and i won a small amount 2000 baht and was paid out. If you won the jackpot though might be a problem.

[Thailand]

If you get a big prize it is often recommended to do a deal with the vendor or a Thai friend who will collect the prize on your behalf. Small "wins" are usually paid by the vendor.

I believe jackpot wins require the winner to confirm to the police so I doubt if that would be a good route for a foreigner.

 

Buy the tickets from any vendor, no problem

 

Check here: https://lottery.kapook.com/

Edited October 13, 2018 by Thailand

[poanoi]

i remember a guy on this forum that won a big pot so he had to go to bangkok to collect, outside there was 'helpful people' that wanted to give in the ticket for him but he managed to get the ticket back with a bit of violence

[Maejo Man]

Not a problem buying tickets at all. Most large cities have a lottery office and wins up to 50,000 baht can be claimed at the office. Major wins will mean a trip to Bangkok to collect. Major wins attract a 1% "commission" fee.

[geoffbezoz]

6 minutes ago, Maejo Man said:

Not a problem buying tickets at all. Most large cities have a lottery office and wins up to 50,000 baht can be claimed at the office. Major wins will mean a trip to Bangkok to collect. Major wins attract a 1% "commission" fee.

And they do pay out the Jackpot/major prizes to foreigners without any problems

[Lacessit]

I buy tickets in the Australian Lotto. Winnings in Thailand are piffling in comparison.

I have found the secret of winning lotteries. Buy a ticket every week for the next 125,000 years, and it's statistically inevitable you will win the main prize at some point in time during that period.

[Maejo Man]

19 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

And they do pay out the Jackpot/major prizes to foreigners without any problems

Yes they do.

[tebee]

44 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I buy tickets in the Australian Lotto. Winnings in Thailand are piffling in comparison.

I have found the secret of winning lotteries. Buy a ticket every week for the next 125,000 years, and it's statistically inevitable you will win the main prize at some point in time during that period.

It's not actually statistically inevitable - only highly probable!

 

Tebee is Bsc pure maths and mathematical statistics (failed) so I can tell you this with reasonable certainty   

[guest879]

in western countries by law a large proportion of the ticket money has to be paid back out. I just wonder what proportion it is in Thailand. also I heard in Thailand jackpots are not rolled over to the next month if they are not won. wonder if that is true.

[cookieqw]

1 hour ago, Maejo Man said:

Not a problem buying tickets at all. Most large cities have a lottery office and wins up to 50,000 baht can be claimed at the office. Major wins will mean a trip to Bangkok to collect. Major wins attract a 1% "commission" fee.

All wins attract a commission 

[PatOngo]

10 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

-tax schemes I should know about after winning?

…...Great sense of humor!

[Burma Bill]

Yes you can buy tickets for the Official Thai Lottery but be cautious how much you pay. Officially one ticket is 80 baht but many vendors ask 90, 100 or even more (from experience those outside banks and tourist spots or those travelling around on cycles or motorbikes). Where I live, vendors at Tesco-Lotus charge 80 baht. You can buy "books" of tickets - there are various combinations. I have won on many occasions - 2,000 baht (two numbers) and 4,000 baht (three numbers). I have never won a big prize. A gold shop in my town cashes the tickets for 1% commission. I have to write my name and phone number on the reverse of the ticket. Throughout Thailand many millions of local people bet on the "unofficial" lottery where odds are quoted for betting on the official winning numbers however finding a local "agent" can be difficult - for obvious reasons. This is popular because you can place a bet from 1 baht to 100 baht or more on a set of winning numbers. I have been successful winning 30,000 baht on two occasions. When living back home I also had a "good" win on the UK lottery.  

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

I buy tickets in the Australian Lotto. Winnings in Thailand are piffling in comparison.

I assume your winnings in either country are piffling.

[YogaVeg]

2 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I buy tickets in the Australian Lotto. Winnings in Thailand are piffling in comparison.

I have found the secret of winning lotteries. Buy a ticket every week for the next 125,000 years, and it's statistically inevitable you will win the main prize at some point in time during that period.

It would be much smarter to buy them daily then, whereas by your math one would be a winner in a mere 17,857 years.

 

Btw, studies show that 91.65% of all statistics are completely meaningless...

[khunPer]

12 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

-is it legal for foreigners to play the lotto?

-will they actually pay a foreigner who wins? (Some countries won't)

-tax schemes I should know about after winning?

-Any risks or concerns to be aware of?

-any English language-friendly places to buy/check tix?

1) Yes.

2) Yes.

3) Yes, I they'll withhold a few percent in Lottery-tax.

4) Yes, it's one of the worst, if not the worst lottery in the World in payout ratio.

5) Yes, The Government Lottery Office.

????

 

Quote

For prizes of more than 20,000 baht, the winning ticket and its holder must be present in person at the government lottery office in Nonthaburi where a cheque will be issued. All winnings are subject to tax: 0.50% on the Thai Government Lottery and 1% on the Thai Charity Lottery.

Quote

The lottery in Thailand is hugely popular despite the low odds of winning and the unfavourable payout ratio. The payout ratio for the Thai lottery is 60%, as compared with world-wide averages of 74% for bingo, 81% for horse racing, 89% for slot machines, and 98% in blackjack (basic rules).

 

[Retired Pete]

You can collect lottery winnings without any problem, I scooped 6000000 in Mar 2017 and had no problems collecting it from the main Bangkok office minus 1%. I just took the cheque to the bank and they opened an account for me. No issues at all.

[YogaVeg]

2 hours ago, khunPer said:

4) Yes, it's one of the worst, if not the worst lottery in the World in payout ratio.

Lol I found worse payouts-

Edited October 13, 2018 by YogaVeg

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, tebee said:

It's not actually statistically inevitable - only highly probable!

 

Tebee is Bsc pure maths and mathematical statistics (failed) so I can tell you this with reasonable certainty   

I think the preferred expression among statisticians is " Statistically, it is almost certain".

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

I assume your winnings in either country are piffling.

You're right; however, hope springs eternal.

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

It would be much smarter to buy them daily then, whereas by your math one would be a winner in a mere 17,857 years.

 

Btw, studies show that 91.65% of all statistics are completely meaningless...

Smarter only if you can afford to buy a ticket every day.

100% of statistics are meaningless when used by a politician.

 

[YogaVeg]

1 hour ago, Retired Pete said:

I scooped 6000000 in Mar 2017 

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! 

See everyone? It's raining money in Thailand! Ya just gotta know where to look.

I'm gonna go get me some ????

[DavidB1960]

3 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

It would be much smarter to buy them daily then, whereas by your math one would be a winner in a mere 17,857 years.

 

Btw, studies show that 91.65% of all statistics are completely meaningless...

I tink you mean statistics show....

[MRTELLYOUSTRAIGHT]

7 hours ago, Thailand said:

If you get a big prize it is often recommended to do a deal with the vendor or a Thai friend who will collect the prize on your behalf.

 

 

Great advice, simply had your winning ticket over to Somchai crack open a bottle of bubbly and wait for him to come back with a wheelbarrow full of money.

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, Retired Pete said:

You can collect lottery winnings without any problem, I scooped 6000000 in Mar 2017 and had no problems collecting it from the main Bangkok office minus 1%. I just took the cheque to the bank and they opened an account for me. No issues at all.

Shame on you. I could have invested it well for you; however, you apparently forgot to ask me.

[khunPer]

7 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

Lol I found worse payouts-

Thanks. I miss a wow in the "like"-icons; could even sometimes need an OMG-icon...????

[cyberfarang]

Personally, I wouldn`t trust they would payout to a Farang with a winning ticket for a large sum of money, no matter what anyone tells me. I`m sure they`ll find some excuse why the Farang is not entitled to the winnings. But sure enough they`ll sell them to you.

 

The dilemma is, if holding a winning ticket and asking a Thai to cash it in for you, even if it`s a girlfriend or wife, would you trust that person to be honest enough and hand over the cash to you?

 

This is why I don`t bother buying Thai lottery tickets.

[Damrongsak]

2 minutes ago, cyberfarang said:

... even if it`s a girlfriend or wife, would you trust that person ...

I've been eating my wife's food for 40 years and I'm still alive.  Wake up with my pecker still attached each morning.  I trust her.  When our older son was killed in Iraq, she received about 10 million Baht from life insurance.  It all went into a joint account, so she trusts me as well.

[DJ54]

Most bigger markets have lottery sellers outside or sometimes inside. Won a small bit 7,000 and collected the money st the gold shop.they charged a small fee. I’m told you can cash in at the bank

[cyberfarang]

5 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

I've been eating my wife's food for 40 years and I'm still alive.  Wake up with my pecker still attached each morning.  I trust her.  When our older son was killed in Iraq, she received about 10 million Baht from life insurance.  It all went into a joint account, so she trusts me as well.

The odds are most wives would be loyal and share the money as a married couple.

 

But from experience I know large sums of money can corrupt and we never know. Even in my family when a relative has died, left a will with a valuable estate, I`ve witnessed siblings and cousins that we all believed were very close and united, transformed into vultures willing to sacrifice all ties with the family for the biggest share of assets up for grabs. I am sure others have had similar experiences when their families have turned against each other when money is involved. And this is why I trust no one when money is involved.