A public hearing is needed before new kinds of lottery tickets can be introduced, says Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The Government Lottery Office’s (GLO) board on Monday set up a panel to study suitable lottery variations that could be introduced. The panel was told to present its findings to the board next month.
Various lottery formats will be examined, including two and/or three digit draws, four and/or five digit draws as well as a picture draw.
“These are still ideas,” said Gen Prayut. “They are still being studied.”
“There must be a public hearing to weigh the pros and cons. There is concern about whether this would attract more people. It is hard to say whether this would lead them astray.”
Thaksin Shinawatra's government ran a two- and three-digit lottery between 2003 and 2006.
But early this month, the former premier was found guilty by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions of launching the scheme illegally and given a jail term.
Gen Prayut said his administration would not go about things in the same way Thaksin's government did.
“Then, there was a law violation,” the prime minister said. “Today, to proceed with this we must take into account laws and various ministerial regulations.”
Referring to the Thaksin government’s wrongdoing in handling the earlier lottery, Gen Prayut said it used the money without proper scrutiny and a hundred billion baht generated from the scheme was not transferred to state coffers.
Meanwhile, Loxley GTech Technology Co, which was contracted to install lottery machines under the Thaksin administration in 2005, expressed interest in supplying new lottery tickets online.