The Phuket man who won 18 million baht in the lottery on Friday has now been officially presented with his winnings. In cash! Lottery organisers arrived at the man’s house in a red Ferrari yesterday with his cash, and also a hard copy of his winning ticket, which is numbered 970618. The man’s friends and family were at his house celebrating him, and welcoming the lottery representatives (you bet they were).
The man, Panuwat, had owed 10 million baht in debt, and prayed at several temples in hopes of winning the lottery. He said he would buy two to three lottery tickets a week, and regularly prayed to a ghost that many Thais believe grants people financial fortune.
In addition to paying off his debt, Panuwat also wants to buy a better house for himself and his family. He said that he had learned lots of lessons after being in debt, and believes he should not waste the money on unnecessary things.
“I worked extremely hard to pay off that debt, taking every possible job I could such as fast food delivery services, laundry services, and working at a market stall.”
Like many Thais, Panuwat bought lottery tickets that had numbers corresponding with something in his personal life that he believed would bring him luck. He said he regularly bought two or three Lottery Plus tickets with the numbers 8618, which correspond to his license plate registration number. Thais also use all sorts of special or significant numbers which they could regard as auspicious or lucky.
The state lottery is drawn twice a month, on the 1st and 15th (with a few variations to fit around auspicious days).
SOURCE: The Phuket News