Some very sad stories abound regarding street beggars that have been roped into staying in Bangkok as part of syndicates. The bosses are supposed to drop the unfortunate folk at strategic money gathering places, particularly Sukhumvit and Silom where the tourists are. Often a wretched looking mother is there with a scrawny looking child - which is reported to be a surrogate accessory to get the sympathy factor... up and so earn more funds. Pour souls, crippled and pushing themselves along the pavement, are another feature. Cases are reported where the crippling has been done to them. The folk doing the begging see some, but only very little, of the money you give them.
In all my years here I can still not work out who are the "legitimate" and who are the bogus beggars. My office staff tend to give their spare cash to the disabled lottery sellers safe in the knowledge that the "begging syndicate bosses" are not being funded. So that's what I now do.
If we win, then we'll chuck the winnings back at the ticket seller. That's our theory. It hasn't happened yet. I hope our morals remain strong if we do land a big one.
It's your call of course. Something beats nothing.