Thai police officials are ramping up their investigation into the sale of overpriced lottery tickets in the country, according to the Bangkok Post.
Recently, there has been a crackdown on a number of alleged overpriced lottery ticket vendors, with the Bluedragon Lottery subjected to a raid of its headquarters last month, where two million tickets were seized.
Pachara Messiyaporn, owner of Bluedragon Lottery, was arrested on four charges, though he denied all allegations before being released on bail.
Kong Salak Plus, situated in Bangkok’s Watthana district, was also recently raided, while three men were arrested in relation to fraudulent online lotteries.
According to Surachate Hakparn, Assistant Police Chief, officers have now been instructed to pursue legal action against those selling overpriced tickets on online platforms, with some listed as having more than 30,000 employees.
As reported by the Bangkok Post, Hakparn has described some online platforms as ‘complicated’ as they did not allow sellers to directly meet buyers while others may not have real lottery tickets. Additionally, some platforms may have sold tickets on multiple occasions to unsuspecting customers.
Kong Salak Plus’ Facebook page was recently seen advertising lottery tickets for a May 2 drawing at 95 baht each.
This drew criticism from officials as Thanawat Polwichai, Spokesman for the Government Lottery Office (GLO), commented: “If there is proof that tickets are sold for more than 80 baht as stated by the post, the GLO will ask the police to take legal action against those involved.”