It's almost an obsession: Looking for lucky numbers
Worachet Intarachote / Shutterstock.com
Twice a month, Thais sit tense in front of the tube or listen to the radio. Then the winning lottery numbers will be announced state lottery.
For some 20 million Thais, that means winning or losing in one of the many underground lotteries, which are more popular than the state lottery because the odds of winning are 1 in 100 versus 1 in 1 million in the state lottery.
Between the results on the 1st and 16th month (which take over the illegal lotteries) Thais go almost obsessively in search of 'lucky numbers'. This can be done in many ways. Three numerology magazines are published in Thailand and some websites provide advice. One website contains a list of 10 places in Bangkok around winning numbers are to be found.
For example, the 'Tree of 100 Corpses' on Ratchadaphisek Road. That tree is a reminder of the many pedestrians who have died in traffic. The trunk is wrapped with gold-colored cloth and there are dozens of figurines. The tree houses ghosts that give a hint on which number a prize falls.
2p2play / Shutterstock.com
Good things come from misfortune
Many believe that good things can come from bad luck, so newspapers publish the license plates of cars involved in horrific accidents. The numbers of the roads where accidents happened, the number of victims - nothing is too gruesome that it is not a source of possible happiness.
But the source can also be innocent: a dream, the bark of a tree, the number of a hotel room where a movie star has slept, the prime minister's birthday or figures related to the royal family.
The best tips come from powerful minds
But the best tips come from powerful spirits, who have experienced terrible pains or suffered a lot. Mae Nak is such a famous ghost. She is honored at a shrine in southeastern Bangkok next to a temple. According to legend, the woman died in childbirth while her soldier husband was away on campaign. When he came back, she had turned into a ghost that floated through the house.
Mae Nak is consulted about everything: young men ask her to make sure they don't have to go into the military, women ask for help getting pregnant, students ask for help with their exams. Those who go to the shrine for lottery numbers draw a numbered ball from a clay pot or they scratch the bark of a tree standing there, looking for numbers.
It's all superstition and in a metropolis like Bangkok there are many people who don't like it. But here too the Thai adage applies: live and let live, or 'If you don't believe it, don't insult it'.
Source: Bangkok Post
– Reposted message –
“Some websites give advice” is an understatement.
There are literally hundreds of sites, apps and lucky-number generators that lead to the ultimate happiness.
You can of course calculate the chance of winning in all kinds of ways, but in the official lottery there are at least two numbers of two final digits that yield a (small) prize, so the chance of winning there is at least 1 in 50. And the prize that is awarded to 1 in the 100 participants in the illegal lottery is of course much smaller than the main prize in the official lottery.
Those illegal lotteries will certainly exist (just like in the Netherlands), but my impression is that most Thai people just buy a few tickets from the official lottery and dream away.
Also in the official lottery the chance of winning is 1 in 100 I think. Two bills indeed, but with the same number. 1 in 50 is correct, of course, if you assume "you have it or you don't"
I mean 50 percent chance instead of 1 in 50 with the latter
Illegal lotteries are widely used by the Thai. The stakes are higher than an official ticket costs. With my wife it was also a hustle and bustle over the telephone line with sisters and acquaintances. Numbers had been passed on several times in the last month through an acquaintance, for which prizes were awarded, because apparently the right source had now been tapped. So after two wins ranging from 30.000 to 60.000 baht, the final draw would also include the numbers for the bigger work. We knew that because it didn't yield anything. An acquaintance of ours had put in all her won money because yes, after 2 successes, three times is a charm. Turned out to be a deception. Almost all of her winnings from the previous draws disappeared like snow in the sun. The lesson is again to keep facing the reality that more is lost than gained, so use wisely.
The stakes of the illegal lottery can also be low. You can already join for 5 baht. The tickets of the official lottery cost 80 baht (with two chances with the same lottery number).
Here is the story (and movie) about Mae Nak mentioned in the last paragraphs.
https://www.thailandblog.nl/cultuur/fabels-aesopus-volksverhalen-thailand/
I've written a story about it before, but my wife wins every time. She plays in both legal and illegal lottery. Bet about 4000 Baht at a time; yield at least 6.000 Baht at a time. On December 16, 2016 with lot number 46 once 12.000 Baht. I share my wife's secrets here:
1. be a good person and live according to the Buddhist rules (no corruption, adultery, alcohol abuse, help where you can, etc.);
2. not wanting to win too much money because that is so greedy;
3. time series analysis of winning numbers on the same day (date or day of the week) over the past 10 years;
4. remember dreams and look up the corresponding numbers in a special booklet;
5. play a card game and ask Chulalongkorn to help you select numbers;
6. Give coffee, tea and whiskey to Chulalongkorn in the morning of each trekking day;
7. after winning, extra whiskey for Chulalongkorn and share part of the prize with the other residents of the condo (who eat and drink twice a month for free).
Like I said, my wife wins every time. Lowest price: 4.000 Baht; highest price: 128.000 Baht. You haven't heard from me about statistical probability calculations for years.
Believed and still don't believe it and apparently there are always new conditions.
By the way, gambling does not fall under No. 1.
In Thailand it is, because the monks also buy lottery tickets.
They do things they shouldn't.
Here's what the Buddha said about gambling (and a lottery is a form of gambling):
“There are, young householder, these six evil consequences in indulging in gambling:
(i) the winner begs hate,
(ii) the loser grieves for lost wealth,
(iii) loss of wealth,
(iv) his word is not relied upon in a court of law,
(v) he is despised by his friends and associates,
(vi) he is not sought after for matrimony; for people would say he is a gambler and is not fit to look after a wife.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.31.0.nara.html
I have at least 15 witnesses to my story, including the friend who buys the numbers in the illegal lottery every two weeks and collects the prize later on the drawing day, and the shop where my wife collects the legal lottery prizes. Perhaps an idea – as a Dutchman – to adjust your faith in Thailand?
Odds of winning are 1 in 2 when you buy 50 lottery tickets of 80 Bath (4000 Baht) which is quite high.
I'm also not saying that someone can't win often and a lot, just the reasons you give for winning are unbelievable as far as I'm concerned.
As a Dutchman you do what you want of course, but as a Belgian I will not change my faith for that.
Dear Chris,
You have indeed written a story about it before, here (repeated on October 4, 2016):
https://www.thailandblog.nl/column/geluk-de-thaise-staatsloterij/
Then you said: '(of) 72 draws (which) have been she has definitely won a prize in 65 of them' and now you say (twice): EVERY time
Then you said, "The biggest prize she ever won was 400.000 baht." Now you say 'highest price 128.000 baht'
It was King Chulalongkorn who started the state lottery in 1874.
I don't know how it is now but I do know that in the past the state lottery was one of the most corrupt institutions in Thailand.
1. She wins almost every time. Certainly far too many times to satisfy the rules of probability.
2. That 400.000 Baht was before my time and I cannot confirm personally. That 128.000 Baht is because I had it in my hands myself. I see the other prices every two weeks.
3. As far as I am concerned, it is important whether you are corrupt yourself. If I really have to avoid all organizations in this country that are (allegedly) corrupt, I can no longer buy visas, no longer go on the road, no longer on the internet and no longer work.
Exactly Tino,
The gamblers, that's what I also call the lottery ticket buyers, only see the winnings and forget the same day that "staples" have arrived.
For example, we know a bar owner who buys many lottery tickets every day from different lottery sellers.
Showed the winning lottery tickets on Facebook with photos of the banknotes.
But we knew better, she's a real 'looser' and I estimate that she bets 1 million annually.
She certainly doesn't get that.
This is Thailand
It has already been reposted but it remains current.
Hope gives life and I doubt you should put that under an almost obsession. Without dreams and hopes, life has little meaning. In fact, no one would ever choose a partner or father a child if there were no hopes and dreams when we all know that adversity can also come.
In the case of a lottery you can ask the question whether a bet of 10% of the income is normal and then it looks more like a gambling addiction to me.
Many have become happy again today and an even larger group can't wait for March 1 and that's how it ripples on.
The postcodes don't really allow it here, but imagine there would be a Postcode lottery here….hmmmm…elections…..coming soon maybe. If postal codes are going to be adjusted, there is a good reason to give hope to more people.
Actually, they would better block such a “post” here at Thailand blog. Because no matter which way you look at it. Gambling is and remains gambling. I wouldn't feed them that harbor and be totally lost because she believed so steadfastly in the gambling devil. Telling yourself again and again that you bought the big lottery ticket. We'd better warn people that gambling can be addictive and totally destroy your life. It all starts very innocently and before you know it you're so deep in it that there's no going back.
Just three points from life:
1/ I won 72000€ in Belgium with the regular biweekly lottery. The well-known recipe for this is very simple…. at the age of 58 I have never bought 18 lottery ticket since I was 1.
2/ Somewhere around my 35th birthday I received a free newspaper in the mail to take out a subscription, it also contained a free lotto form. And yes I filled it out and brought it in. Man, man, what a thrill, I was definitely going to win…. Of course I didn't win anything, but I knew then how dangerous such a first time can be.
3/ Recently I had to go with my Thai neighbors (they are industrial rice farmers) to visit a house in Bangsaray. A very wealthy Norwegian sold it in addition to a second home in the same complex and a very large house in Bangkok. I had to come along for the translation into English and my wife did the translation into Thai. 12.000.000 bath was the asking price and it was well worth it. When I asked, after the tour, why he sold it, the man replied as follows: “My Thai wife and I have been together for 20 years and married for 18 years. My wife had become very proud, but that did not bother me. But in the last three years she has started gambling and she has already incurred more than 16.000.000 baht in debt. So , I put them out, divorced and now found a sweet Vietnamese. All houses are bought in a company in my name, so she only leaves here with her clothes and 1 bed.”!!!!
So dear people, in some cases there is no happy medium. Some things are better to avoid and choose common sense.
mvg
Andre
André,
Your point 3 is still relevant last week a Thai left early in the morning with all acquaintances and guests who bought lottery tickets for the commission, leaving behind the farang husband too and how often they coughed up money for her many times and did everything for her . Now I personally have no pity for people who work for commission on those things, even for the farang involved, although he did not manage to unlearn it. Incomprehensible she had a good life!
André Jacobs, why should Thailandblog block something that is legal? The Thai state lottery is legal, and so are the state lotteries in NL and BE. The newspapers and TV are full of advertisements: soooo much money….. is one of those slogans.
It's like smoking, alcohol, drugs: hide the problem, bury your head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. No, let's see, also the bad sides, maybe someone will learn from it. Name those extremes; perhaps the eyes of the 'large consumers' will open.
Yet there are also plenty of farangs who possess supernatural powers and can see into the future. They are waiting for a favorable exchange rate to exchange their euros into bahts. They also know better than the currency traders who earn millions in currency trading.
Now there will be quite a few farangs who are lucky (nearly 50%) and indeed sometimes have a favorable rate, but the chance that they can really look into the future seems very small to me. Even with technical analysis I think that is actually impossible (it may have worked in the early years). There is of course also the possibility that the price is being manipulated and that you know how that works and that you also have insider information at your disposal. That seems impossible to me for an ordinary farang.
But what about Chris' wife? Unlikely, of course, that she can see into the future. But such luck is of course also unlikely. Of course it must be one of the two because other explanations are even more improbable.
You can never prove that something that does not exist does not exist.
What waiting for a correct rate of the baht and being successful in this.
You only hear the success stories from them. The vast majority, who have suffered considerable losses, do not flaunt it.
As for Chris's wife: I have met women like this many times in Thailand.
Every Thai knows that there are many predictors of lottery winning numbers out there.
Even when you buy a lottery ticket somewhere, the saleswoman will give advice about the winning number.
My wife even gets a call from Thailand which will be a winning number.
On the claim that Chris's wife often has a winning number, I would advise him to check that she does not buy many more lottery tickets than she claims.
It is a common way to justify gambling addiction by spreading the word that one often wins. If one seldom wins and spends a lot of money on lottery tickets, the husband would be much less indulgent.
The Thais also scoff at this obsession with winning numbers. I once saw a video of the comedian Kothee โก๊ะตี๋ He witnesses a scooter accident and while the rider lies on the ground screaming in pain 'Help! Help!' Kothee says 'A moment' and first writes down the number on the license plate.
I have often experienced what Tino Kuis describes above in my wife's village.
My wife's house, which we built together, is not far from the main road to Phayao and Chiang Mai.
If an accident happens here, which unfortunately is not rare, half the village empties to look.
When I noticed that many people were writing down the license plate numbers of the vehicles involved, my wife told me that this could bring good luck when playing lottery.
To which I replied that it surprised me that the inhabitants of the village, with the many accidents that happen here, were not all wealthy.
Anyway, then you immediately become that weird farang who doesn't understand a word of it.555
I don't do much else in the Dutch lotto. Nothing for 42 years.