No lottery tickets for persons below 20, GLO warns
As the authorities work to control the price of lottery tickets and make them more easily available, the Government Lottery Office (GLO) is taking steps to prevent tickets from being sold to people below the age of 20.
GLO together with the Stop Gambling Foundation announced at a press conference on Friday that lottery sellers violating this edict will be penalised.
“Article 39/1 of the 2019 Government Lottery Act prohibits the sale of lottery tickets in educational institutes, while Article 39/2 prohibits selling lottery to persons under 20. Violators face a fine of up to 10,000 baht,” GLO chief Lt-Colonel Nun Sansanakhom said.
To make sellers and buyers aware of the law, GLO and the Stop Gambling Foundation will be giving away stickers declaring “No selling to persons under 20” to lottery vendors in Bangkok and Nonthaburi in the first phase of the campaign. The drive will be expanded to merchants in other provinces within a year.
“If vendors are not sure about the buyer’s age, they can ask to see their ID card,” Nun advised. “This campaign, along with the drive to strictly limit the price of tickets at 80 baht each, is part of GLO’s policy to make the sale and purchase of lottery tickets transparent and in line with the law.”
Thanakorn Komkris, secretary-general of the Stop Gambling Foundation, said: “Our survey found that vendors have been ignoring this law and have sold lotteries to more than 700,000 underaged persons last year. Also, many buyers are unaware of this law and most merchants never ask customers to provide an ID.”
