GLO scraps the idea of establishing a fund to buyback unsold lottery tickets

[webfact]

GLO scraps the idea of establishing a fund to buyback unsold lottery tickets

BANGKOK, 13 May 2015, (NNT) - The Government Lottery Office (GLO) has decided not to fund the buyback of unsold lottery tickets, saying the program attracts corruption.

GLO Chairman Major General Apirat Kongsompong said the office would instead attempt to regulate the price of lottery tickets at 80 baht apiece and offer bigger discounts for registered distributors to increase their profit margins.

The price of a lottery ticket for these agencies is initially set at 69.60 baht. Retailers should be able to procure the tickets at 71.20 baht.

Major General Apirat is confident that the new measures would help lottery retailers absorb losses from unsold tickets.

He said the measures will be enacted in three phases. The first phase starts from June to the end of the year. The second phase will kick off next year and go until until the new government is elected. The final phase, which implements information technology in lottery tickets, would likely begin during the new administration.


-- NNT 2015-05-13

[kmj]

The final phase pass the problem on, I've bitten off more than I can chew...

[BuckBee]

New measure seem be a do nothing & just talk about enforcing 80Bt pricing.

Seems easy enough to me to print boldly 80Bt only & hotline number for buyers who being overcharged on ticket & add to that with appropriate tv/media coverage & police action on those who continue to abuse pricing policy.

As with everything in thailand it all talk & same same mess & stupidity as always :-/

if the Big man can't get a simple issue like selling lottery tickets resolved then thailand is doomed !

Edited May 13, 2015 by BuckBee

[Thai at Heart]

How can it encourage corruption?

Someone going to go off and copy millions of lottery tickets?

[tracker1]

Their going to Their not going to Their going to oh it just goes on and on one of Thailand's most difficult problems trying to be resolved

[Basil B]

The only answer is a On Line system that issues tickets as they are purchased.

[joebrown]

It'll be very interesting to see the outcome of the P M's threat to suspend the lottery if there are reports of the 'on the street' price being more than 80bht per pair in June.

With his millions I can't imagine the P M has any idea of what 'life on the street' is like. Who knows, maybe he sends staff out to buy his lottery tickets? There could well be a 'civil uprising' if so many thousands of ticket sellers aren't able to use the lottery as a means of income. This issue is going to end in tears or severe 'loss of face' very soon. The fortnightly lottery is the only hope of happiness for millions of Thais. Doesn't the PM realise this?

[tx22cb]

But didn't someone important promise that the problem will be solved in 2 months?

No wonder the "underground" lottery mafia remain entirely unperturbed.

[oohay200]

The only answer is a On Line system that issues tickets as they are purchased.

1,000% agree, Basil......

This is THE solution and most probably the ONLY solution....online lottery ( via lottery dispensing / vending machines )....

Learn and adopt 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.....

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.

a. Over pricing : checked

b. middlemen : checked

c. no return of unsold tickets : checked

d. waste pre-print lottery costs : checked

e. disable or poor can be employed as operators : checked

f. Long term solution : checked

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

the lottery industry forever.....

And HE will be always remembered by all Thais, as the MAN that changed and advance the lottery system in Thailand.......

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

[ldiablo]

Simple solution is to just go into a 711 and either ask for a quick pick or choose your own numbers, ticket prints, pay the clerk and leave. Soooo simple but then again this is Thailand where the only thing simple are the minds.

[Basil B]

As much as I despise Camelot Group who run the UK lottery as a greedy monopoly, they and I suppose their are others out there that run lotteries in other countries have the expertise and capitol to invest and could be up and running in Thailand in a few months.

If they do go this way hopefully preference for licences will go to shops taking on extra employees.