The board of the Government Lottery Office decided on Tuesday not to extend the contract to grant a substantial quota of lottery tickets to the so-called “five tigers” which will put an end of decades-long monopoly of lotteries.
GLO board chairman Lt-Gen Apirat Kongsompong said that the board’s decision was meant to end the ambiguity in the distribution system of lottery tickets. It was also intended for public benefits, he added.
The “five tigers” have been granted with 79,000 books of 100 lottery tickets each for every lottery draw which takes place every fortnight. This quota allocation in favour of the “five tigers” has brought them a huge fortune and sent the price of lottery tickets above the 80-baht face value until the National Council for Peace and Order stepped in to set a new order and to peg the retail price at 80 baht/apiece.
The board also decided to scrap the special lottery quota for the GLO Foundation said to be another “sleep-eating tiger” which has benefitted from the sale of its quota of lottery tickets to wholesalers and the profits are shared among retired and active GLO employees.
Contracts between the GLO and the “five tigers” are due to expire at the end of December.
Lt Gen Apirat made clear that the only juristic persons that will still enjoy the quota system will be charity organisations and foundations which engage with the handicapped.
Meanwhile GLO director to Maj Gen Chalongrat Nak-arthit explained that the board’s decision will make change to the printing ratios of lottery tickets.
Currently, 50 million pairs for each lottery draw were printed, breaking down to 37 million pairs under the quota allocation system, and 13 million pairs under the purchase order scheme.
But he said the lottery draw for the upcoming December 17 round will increase the lottery pairs under the purchase order scheme to 8 million pairs more, while the December 30 draw will increase to 22 million pairs.
This will enable vendors to have enough lottery tickets to order for sale, he said.
He said further that there will be no increase of lottery pairs over the current 50 million pairs and the GLO will take three months to assess the real market demand.
Of late, the GLO has introduced a new lottery distribution system by allowing registered retailers to book lotteries with the GLO or its authorized agents. The new system has proven to be a success with all the tickets fully booked in advance.