Myanmar worker wins B6m lottery prize

The Government Lottery Office issued this cheque for 5.97 million baht to first-prize winner Thiri Shwe Sin, a Myanmar national. (Photo by Assawin Pakkawan)
The Government Lottery Office issued this cheque for 5.97 million baht to first-prize winner Thiri Shwe Sin, a Myanmar national. (Photo by Assawin Pakkawan)

SONGKHLA: A young Myanmar woman who won a lottery first-prize worth 6 million baht last week, less than a year after she started working at a fish canning factory, has already cashed in the ticket and plans to go back home with her winnings.

Thiri Shwe Sin, 21, received a cheque when she cashed in her first-prize ticket, No.026853, for the Feb 1 draw at the Government Lottery Office.

Her windfall was 5.970 million baht after paying stamp duty of 30,000 baht.

The win has totally changed the young migrant's life.

Ms Thiri bought the lucky ticket from a lottery vendor in front of the factory where she works. It was only the third ticket she had bought in the nine months she has been here.

Her Myanmar friend told her that 6 million baht was equivalent to 240 million kyat, and that will make  her an instant multi-millionaire back home.

Ms Thiri is now under the care of the Migrant Workers Rights Network's Hat Yai branch. 

Speaking through an interpreter, the smiling young woman said she would wire all the money to her parents in Myanmar, and they would take care of it for her. Some of it would be used to make merit.

She would soon return home to Yangon to live with her parents and siblings. There are seven people in her family. She would decide later about her future. So far, she had never even thought about having a boyfriend.

The happy Myanmar woman was greeted by customers and bank staff when she arrived at the branch on Tuesday. They came to congratulate her and asked to have their photos taken with the lucky winner.

Learn from listening

Click play to listen to audio for this story, or download to save the file
: :

Vocabulary

  • equivalent: the same as; equal to - เท่าเทียมกันกับ
  • interpreter: someone who changes what someone else is saying into another language - ล่าม
  • lottery: a way of raising money for a government, charity, etc. by selling tickets that have different numbers on them that people have chosen. Numbers are then chosen by chance and the people who have those numbers on their tickets win prizes - สลากกินแบ่ง, ล็อตเตอรี่
  • migrant: someone who travels to another place or country in order to find work (an immigrant is someone who comes to live in a country from another country) - ผู้อพยพ, คนงานต่างถิ่น
  • sibling: a brother or sister - พี่น้อง
  • stamp duty (n): a tax on legal documents -
  • windfall: an amount of money that you get when you are not expecting it or which comes to you very easily, especially a large amount - สิ่งดีๆ ที่ได้มาที่คาดไม่ถึง, เงินที่ได้มาอย่างไม่คาดฝัน
  • wire (verb): to send money to another person's bank account - ส่ง
Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT
MORE IN SECTION