Lottery retailers in the Thai region of Loei have received assurances that they will be allocated ticket quotas from August after staging a protest outside the government house.
As first reported by the Bangkok Post, over 350 sellers staged a protest calling for the chief of the Government Lottery Office (GLO) to resign and allocate quotas of lottery tickets for them.
The dispute was over the prices of the tickets, with the vendors claiming they had to buy tickets from wholesalers at 92 baht, with those additional costs passed onto the consumer. Retailers never received a quota allowing them to sell tickets at 80 baht, the legal limit for lottery tickets following a scandal-ridden year for the lottery.
Jeerasak Noikam, President of the Loei Province Lottery Club, which led the protest, noted that, after a meeting with government officials earlier his week, he is satisfied that the quota price of 70.4 baht will be met from August 10.
He told the Bangkok Post: “Today marks a milestone in our efforts. We believe we will get what we asked for from the GLO.”
Meanwhile, the government remains intent on pressing on with its online lottery plans, which it deemed the best way to ensure that consumers pay the correct price for tickets.
The issue of overpriced lottery tickets is one that has dominated the Thai lottery industry recently, with the Bluedragon Lottery thoroughly investigated before being cleared of the allegation.
Despite Bluedragon being cleared of wrongdoing, the online lottery has still been pushed forward to combat overpricing in the sector, and the new venture has proved successful.
The GLO added an extra two million tickets earlier this month to keep up with demand as consumers trust the new platform.
