The Thai Government Lottery Office (GLO) has taken another significant step in its efforts to combat overpriced lottery tickets by giving sellers the option of reducing the price below 80 baht.
As reported by the Bangkok Post, the Thai GLO is determined to rid the industry of malpractice associated with the inflated prices of tickets.
Last month, three arrests were made in relation to overpriced lottery tickets, despite previous belief that the issue had been widely resolved.
The GLO has now issued updated guidance to lottery ticket vendors, having previously been firm on the 80 baht price of lottery tickets.
Printed lottery tickets are officially priced at 80 baht but routinely sell at 100 baht and even as high as 120 baht. Only unpopular numbers or single left-over tickets are offered at 80 baht.
Now, sellers can reduce the price below the 80 baht figure for the September 1 draw, for which 10.3 million digital tickets have already been distributed through the Paotang mobile app.
On August 17, the first day of the September 1 issue, about 7.1 million tickets had been purchased by 950,000 buyers.
Speaking today, August 18, GLO Board Chairman Lavaron Sangsnit said: “Our target for this year is to sell 20 million digital lottery tickets at 80 baht a piece.
“We want people to set the price of lottery tickets and reject sellers of overpriced tickets who take advantage.
“This will play a part in forcing down the price of lottery tickets sold in the markets.”