The first lot of 16 mobile phone numbers deemed super lucky will finally be auctioned by the national telecom regulator in December and is expected to generate at least 100 million baht in revenue for the state.
This will be the country's first auction for VIP and auspicious mobile numbers conducted by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The NBTC initially planned to auction 1,000 auspicious mobile numbers in one go, either to be done online or via a traditional live auction at its headquarters.
The regulator finally decided to sell the first super VIP 16 numbers as it would attract more bidders, said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith.
Mr Takorn said the 16-mobile numbers including 099-999-9999 and 088-888-8888 are believed to be very lucky number by affluent people in Thailand, especially wealthy Chinese.
The other numbers include 090-000-0000, 091-111-1111, 092-222-2222, 093-333-3333, 094-444-4444, 095-555-5555, 096-666-6666, 097-777-7777, 098-888-8888, 061-111-1111, 062-222-2222, 063-333-3333, 064-444-4444 and 065-555-5555.
"The 099-999-9999, comprising nine digits of 9, will be the most expensive in the auctions, with an expected bid of 20 million baht," said Mr Takorn. Revenue from the auctions will go to state coffers.
It is common to see rich Thais paying a premium to get a phone number or licence plate with a lucky number as the sound of certain numbers is similar to the words for fortune, wealth or prosperity in the Thai language, and they believe this will bring then more luck and riches.
Mr Takorn said the regulator is drawing up the auction draft strategy including the starting price of each number to be auctioned.
The first batch of 16 numbers will be a benchmark for further auctions, he said.
The NBTC previously wanted to outsource the auction to a specialist to handle. But there was no company qualified to do so due to the regulator's strict requirement that the auctions of 1,000 mobile numbers must generate at least 1.8 billion baht for the state.