MUKDAHAN - It's well known that Thais will pick on anything unusual or auspicious to try to get winning lottery numbers, such as former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra's car number plate. But a road sign in this northeastern province beats them all.
For it has given hope to many lottery punters after the numbers showing distances on the sign have been matched with the lucky draw in three consecutive lotteries.
Images of the road sign, erected on Highway route 2034 near Don Tan Hospital in Don Tan district, with the numbers 33, 84, 50 and 90, below names of provinces and districts, went viral online after the first three numbers matched with lucky numbers in the past three lottery draws.
Lottery enthusiasts are flocking to look at the road sign with the lucky numbers. They are pinning their hopes on the fourth number on the sign -- 90 -- which they will use for the Oct 1 draw. The number 90 shows the distance from Don Tan in Mukdahan to Amnat Charoen.
After news about the road sign spread, lottery tickets with the last two-digit number of 90 were sold out. Some operators of the underground lottery also stopped receiving bets of this number for the upcoming draw, according to Thai media.
Pitsamai Rungruang, 37, whose coffee shop is near the sign, said the numbers for the distances had brought luck to local residents for three consecutive lottery draws. After news spread, many people came to the area to take photos of the road sign every day, Khaosod Online reported.
Lottery punters bet on the number 90 for the upcoming draw on Oct 1, but some said the number 9 could be interpreted as number 6.
Bunruang, 56, another resident, who drove his car to see the sign, said lottery tickets with the two-digit number 90 and 09 were sold out in Mukdahan.