Sales of government lottery tickets may continue to drop

BANGKOK, April 15 (TNA) -- The spokesman of the Government Lottery Office (GLO) said the sales of government lottery tickets dropped by 11 million pairs and the reduction could continue until the new school term. Thanavath Phonvichai, the spokesman, said that as people were spending on their Songkran holidays, the GLO issued 60 million pairs of tickets for the April 16 draw which was in the Songkran festival while the normal issuance level stood at 71 million pairs of tickets. However, he said that the sales of lottery tickets rose by 2 million in this Songkran festival compared with the same period last year. He predicted that the sales would be also low in May as parents would have to spend on tuition fees, school uniforms and learning equipment for the new school term of their children. The GLO would print lottery tickets only to meet ordered amounts, he said. Mr Thanavath said that the GLO planned to issue 80-baht tickets instead of 80-baht pairs of tickets and new and smaller tickets would show QR codes for buyers to check if tickets were authentic. Besides, people would be able to claim prizes at post offices and Krungthai Bank branches but be subject to their normal fees, he said. (TNA)