Villagers and a senior monk in Sisaket have criticised a Buddhist college’s charity lottery, saying it looks like illegal gambling and pressures small temples to pay for tickets.
Residents became suspicious on 16 October after tickets for the Sisaket Sangha College appeared at temples and in communities across all 22 districts of the province. Each ticket costs 100 baht (US$3), and 50 tickets come in a booklet. The money is meant for student scholarships and the college’s development fund.
Prizes are based on the last 5 digits of the first prize in the government lottery on 1 November:
- Matching 5 digits wins 1 Isuzu Spacecab pickup.
- Matching 4 digits wins 1 of 10 Honda Wave 110i motorbikes.
- Matching 3 digits wins 1 of 100 microwaves.
- Matching 2 digits wins 1 of 1,000 rice cookers.
Supit Lalun, a 63 year old local, said monks should not act as ticket sellers. He compared the scheme to illegal gambling and urged organisers to cancel it.
Phra Maha Samret Pathumsiri, the chief monk of Pho sub-district and abbot of Wat Ban Pho in Mueang district, said he disagrees with the scheme and that it breaches monastic discipline. He said every temple was given 1 booklet worth 5,000 baht, and that many small temples cannot afford it. His own temple refused the tickets, but others did not dare. He has instructed the sub-district secretary monk to collect the ticket money and send it back to the project’s owner before the draw.
A legal expert told reporters the scheme may fall under Section 5 of the Gambling Act 1935.
A source said 100,000 tickets were printed. If all are sold, they would raise 10 million baht, with 2 million baht going on prizes. It is unclear where the other 8 million baht would go.
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The story Sisaket temples handed lottery-style tickets worth 10 million baht as seen on Thaiger News.