Thai Lottery

On 1st and 16th of every month are the days that Thai people from old to young age waiting for, since these are  the dates that the results for the lottery in Thailand announced.  I have never bought a lottery ticket myself because I don’t want to get addicted to it, however I remember my mom buying it every month. When Thai people buy the lottery tickets, they don’t just randomly pick a number they like; the selected numbers which are called เลขเด็ด /lake dèd/ (เด็ด/dèd/ means marvelous, splendid, superb) comes from special sources. The common sources are:

1. dreaming of the numbers
2. home address or license plate of their own or some important people like the Prime Minister’s
3. the age of the passed away relatives

4. consulting a person whom is respectful for knowing the future, or popular monks

How interesting!

How to play:

Last 3Digits winning :    the winning number is taken from the last 3 digits of original 6 number first prize winner. Example; First Prize winner is 123456 then the winning number for the pick 3 last numbers of lottery is 456. Lowest number is 0 and the highest number is 9, select a combination consisting of three numbers from 0 to 9. If you get the winning number (straight bet) in the right order you’ll win 500.00 USD for every 1.00 USD. If you played the last 3digits but not in the right order (Rumble bet) then you’ll win 100.00 USD for every 1.00 USD.

Last 2Digits (UP):    Here the winning number is taken from the last 2 digits of original 6 number first prize winner. Example; First Prize winner is 123456 then the winning number for the pick 2 last numbers of lottery is 56. Lowest number is 0 and the highest number is 9, select a combination consisting of two numbers from 0 to 9. If you get the winning number (straight bet) in the right order you’ll win 60.00 USD for every 1.00 USD.

2Digits (Down):   Or you need to play 2Down number, you can bet too. If you get the winning number (straight bet) in the right order you’ll win 60.00 USD for every 1.00 USD.

Single Digit:    Here the winning number is taken from 1 digit of Last 3Digits (Up) winner. Example; Last 3Digits (Up) is 456 then the winning number for Single Digit is 4 or 5 or 6. Lowest number is 0 and the highest number is 9. If you get the winning number of Single Digit, you’ll win 300.0 USD for every 100.0 USD.

Credit: http://www.lotterythai.org

Let’s lean some words and expressions related to this subject:

สลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล /sà-làak gin bàeng rát-tá-baan/ is the formal term for government lottery, in spoken Thai it is called หวย hŭai

When someone wins the lottery, they will say “ถูกหวย tùuk hŭai”

When someone loses, they will say “ถูกหวยแดก tùuk hŭai dàek” meaning I am eaten by the lottery. Ok! I need to tell you that the word แดก / dàek/ is the rude term for ‘eat’ (the common word is กิน /gin/), it is ok to use this word among close friends. You can say ถูกหวยกิน tùuk hŭai gin to make it sound less harsh.

So if you see your Thai friend looking sour on the 1^st or the 16^th you could tease him/her with the question: ถูกหวยแดกเหรอ / tùuk hŭai dàek rŏr/? which literally means ‘Have you been eaten by a lottery?’ , I am sure you will make them laugh.555

Have you ever played the Thai Lottery?