PM warns he may scrap government lottery if the retrial price is over 80 baht

[webfact]

PM warns he may scrap government lottery if the retrial price is over 80 baht



BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha warned today that he might scrap the government lottery if the retail price of lottery cannot be kept at 80 baht a piece.

However, he said that if the lottery was to be scrapped completely, a lot of people would be affected. He admitted that he didn’t want to go that extreme.

The prime minister disclosed that once lottery concession expired in June, it would be extended and lottery quota would be reallocated into four parts namely the quota for the Government Lottery Office Foundation; charitable associations; provincial administrations and low-income earners.

He made clear that the lottery allocated to the four groups of recipients had to be sold to the consumers and could not be sold to middlemen for reselling to the retailers otherwise the quota allocated would be confiscated.

Asked to comment on Deputy Finance Minister Visut Srisuphan’s claim that as much as 15 billion baht in under-the-table commissions had been paid by lottery wholesalers to politicians and officials, the prime minister said he had no idea about the claim but suggested that if there was to be an investigation, then the last government should be investigated about where the money had gone and to whom.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/pm-warns-he-may-scrap-government-lottery-if-the-retrial-price-is-over-80-baht


-- Thai PBS 2015-05-12

[JOC]

Instead of wasting time on non important lottery ticket prices, maybe the PM should canalize his energy to try to solve the problem with 8000 people on board floating prisons off Thailand coast!!

As for the lottery. A very simple solution: On line, no middlemen needed!!

[fayou]

Just automate the whole thing like other countrys lottery systems. That's it.

[Nick167]

YES YES! STop the lottery.....wanna see where the govt gets additional funds.

[longtom]

3 articles with the same headline in 3 days?

[Prbkk]

Nero and Rome come to mind

[ChrisY1]

Nero and Rome come to mind

Not too sure if there are any stringed instruments in this debacle......!!

[EyesWideOpen]

Lotteries are in essence a tax upon poor people as they are the main players.

End it and benefit the lower classes.....

Edited May 12, 2015 by EyesWideOpen

[Praematura]

Scrap the lottery! Does he not understand this is the most pressing issue facing Thailand. Oh the humanity...[emoji30]

[dragonfly94]

oh well there will always be the illegal one and where you can pick your own numbers.

[OttoPollmann]

just do it.......... and show one time that you have balls

[SABloke]

oh well there will always be the illegal one and where you can pick your own numbers.

Without the legal lottery, the illegal one can't work:rolleyes:

[Chupup]

Put it online as has been suggested, the sellers have been ripping the Arse out of the Thai people for years and now the price for a double ticket is 120 bht ( have you noticed just how many " sellers " there are now) IMHO it is an important issue as it affects most of the people in Thailand and shows everyone that corruption is being dealt with, Having said this i wish you luck General

[Chao Lao Beach]

Instead of wasting time on non important lottery ticket prices, maybe the PM should canalize his energy to try to solve the problem with 8000 people on board floating prisons off Thailand coast!!

As for the lottery. A very simple solution: On line, no middlemen needed!!

It will never stop, just more empty threats. There are to many fingers in the pie.

[tracker1]

Asked to comment on Deputy Finance Minister Visut Srisuphan’s claim that as much as 15 billion baht in under-the-table commissions had been paid by lottery wholesalers to politicians and officials

Either the lottery sales have stopped and no more under-the-table commissions are happening or the Government is 15 billion baht better off

[LuckyLew]

Only in Thailand .... cannot organize a proper and fair lottery

Explains why they keep having coups

They can't run a lottery so how are they suppose to run a country?

[The Deerhunter]

Nero and Rome come to mind

Not too sure if there are any stringed instruments in this debacle......!!

[i can hear a fiddle from kilometers away.

[The Deerhunter]

Retrial?????????????????? Retail. Retail!!!!! As in shopping not court appearances.

[dageurreotype]

However, he said that if the lottery was to be scrapped completely, a lot of people would be affected. He admitted that he didn’t want to go that extreme.

No, because that will be the end of him, big gun or no. Other administrations around the world have been toppled for far less.

[tigermonkey]

What is the real agenda here, the hidden unspoken agenda. The general and his clique know very well that his henchmen distributors are selling the tickets for 85 to 90 Baht to the sellers, but they insist that they will put the sellers in jail if they sell for more than 80 Baht. Many of the sellers are disabled and/or have no other source of income - why is the attack against them ?

Otherwise .........they will cancel the lottery ! Again the big losers will be the on-street sellers, who have no other source of income.

Really, what is the true agenda here? Is it to cut the sellers out entirely , leaving all the profits for the distributors ? -- or is it to justify turning the lottery over to the likes of 7-11, who so desperately need the extra income ? -- or some other which we do not yet know. Perhaps it is only meant as distraction from the constitution, air safety, fishing and human trafficking debacles.

[hugh2121]

No mention of investigating the unelected government before the last one! Surprise Surprise.

[Freed1948]

How many countries in the world still sell paper lotteries?

Get it on-line and there will not be any middleman!

[Ulic]

Instead of wasting time on non important lottery ticket prices, maybe the PM should canalize his energy to try to solve the problem with 8000 people on board floating prisons off Thailand coast!!

As for the lottery. A very simple solution: On line, no middlemen needed!!

While I agree more has to be done to solve the Rohinga migration and the slave labour on fishing

boats the Thai lottery is one of the biggest scams there is. In Canada 50% of lotteries gross income

goes to prizes. After all expenses promoting various lottery games the lottery commission returns

billions of dollars to various charitable organizations and government coffers. In Thailand the

prize money is a very small fraction of the money taken in by ticket sales and then the tickets

mostly sell for almost 30% more than the official rate. The old rice scheme pails in comparison to

the skimming and lining of pockets that happens with the lottery scam. Lotteries are a tax on the

poor and desperate. At least give then a fare, poor return on there lottery investment and let

the billions raised be spent in the way it should, not lining the pockets of a few connected families.

[oohay200]

This is THE solution....online lottery ( via lottery dispensing / vending machines ).... whats wrong learning and adopting from those countries that had successfully implemented the online lottery for many many years..... instead of try and hope and see if it works attitude.....

Please pass this comment to the PM, if anyone of you knows him.....

Below some simple steps on how the online lottery works :-

1. Lottery dispensing / vending machines will be placed at lottery shops, open in every soi, all over the country ;

similar shop model like 7 Eleven or Mart.

2. Some of the lottery shops can be allocated to vendors as agent, interested in selling lottery as a business.

3. The lottery shops will hire operators to manned the counters, to operate the lottery dispensing / vending machine

4. People queue up and at the counter, inform the operator the number they wants to buy, operator key the numbers,

customer pay for it and they will be given a printed lottery ticket....Finished.....

5. All the numbers keyed into the lottery dispensing / vending machines, the data will be transferred to GLO central networking system,

from any part of the country.

6. Any winning tickets with small amount, the people can claim the prize from the lottery shops ; whilst those bigger prize such as

jackpot, will have to collect from the Headoffice, GLO.

Over pricing - checked

middlemen - checked

no return of unsold tickets - checked

waste pre-print lottery costs - checked

disable or poor can be employed as operators - checked

Long term solution - checked...etc.......

Nothing difficult.....its a matter of whether one has the guts to implement them.........and this will change the lottery industry forever.....

[RobertHima]

First I thought it will not work, but yesterday I've seen two lottery vendors selling at 90 baht/ticket. Haven't seen prices below 100 for a very long time, it feels like something is happening..

[axact]

Instead of wasting time on non important lottery ticket prices, maybe the PM should canalize his energy to try to solve the problem with 8000 people on board floating prisons off Thailand coast!!

As for the lottery. A very simple solution: On line, no middlemen needed!!

A well thought out reply when the main customer base live in a total cash economy and probably have never brought anything online and have no credit/debit card.

The lottery to most Thais is more important than boat people trying to take their jobs

[carstenp]

Seems like he as to stop it. In udon thani still selling at 90 and 105 for good numbers. it will never stop. People will pay big money for a good number from a dream and like others say. This is a big part of there lives and a lot of the communication and social behavior between them

Edited May 14, 2015 by carstenp