Thailand's Lottery 80 sales points will be present in every province from the 1 July 2022 draw onward, Anucha Nakasai, a minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office who chairs the committee handling overpriced government lottery tickets, said at a press briefing on 1 June 20221. The announcement was published by the Government Public Relations Department1.
At the time of the briefing, 362 sales points were already open in Bangkok, the central region, the northeast and the east, and contracts for distributor agents in the north and south had been signed the previous week1. The Government Lottery Office plans to call up reserve-list applicants in each province, setting the number of additional points by local population and adding points in districts with the most reserve applicants, to reach its target of 1,000 points nationwide1.
"ในงวดวันที่ 1 กรกฎาคม 2565 เป็นต้นไป จะมีจุดจำหน่ายสลาก 80 ครบทุกจังหวัด"
The same briefing covered the digital lottery platform, which sells through the Paotang app. Anucha said there were 10,258 digital lottery agents and an initial 5,279,500 tickets ready to go on sale the following day, 2 June 20221. Tickets are sold at the fixed price of 80 baht1. The digital tickets are sold by small agents who receive them directly from the Government Lottery Office, and every ticket belongs to a small agent1. Once payment is complete, ownership passes to the buyer and the ticket can no longer be bought or sold1.
Anucha also said the committee is examining ticket withdrawals at post offices nationwide to check on actual sellers, and is considering legal amendments, heavier penalties and civil, criminal and other measures as part of longer-term fixes1. The report did not give a date for any of those legal changes.
What it means for players
The stated aim is that buyers pay 80 baht, the fixed price, rather than the marked-up prices common at street vendors. From the 1 July 2022 draw, a buyer anywhere in Thailand should have a Lottery 80 point in their province, though the number of points per province will vary with population1. Digital tickets bought through the Paotang app are tied to the buyer once paid for and cannot be resold1, which removes the resale market that has driven up prices on paper tickets. The report does not say how many tickets each sales point will hold, whether the 1,000-point target has a deadline, or how buyers can check a point's legitimacy. For general background on how state lotteries in the region work, see Lotteries in Asia, and for outlets and vendors, see Where to Buy Lottery Tickets in Asia. Buyers in Thailand can also read Can I Gamble in Thailand?.
What happens next
The 1 July 2022 draw is the first at which Lottery 80 points are due to cover every province1. After that, the Government Lottery Office is to call up reserve-list applicants province by province, with the number of new points set by population, to reach 1,000 points nationwide1. No date has been reported for hitting that target, and no timeline has been reported for the legal and penalty changes under consideration1.
