Digital lottery: Thai man challenges ‘Paotang’ app for unpaid winnings

A 52 year old man lodged a police complaint after purchasing 20 digital government lottery tickets via the ‘Paotang’ application, which won but were declared as non-winning by the system.

Sarawuth Jangkina who had previously won up to 31 tickets without issue, questioned whether the discrepancy was due to a system glitch or duplicate digital ticket sales.

Sarawuth, the president of the Buriram Highway Police Rescue Association, last night reported the incident at Nang Rong Police Station. The digital tickets numbered 283366, were for yesterday’s draw.

Upon winning the last two digits, 66, on all 20 tickets, the system notified him of no winnings. It also showed that all tickets for this draw were sold out, raising concerns about the possibility of claiming his prize money.

Sarawuth explained that he typically purchases 200 to 300 lottery tickets per draw. He once bought a maximum of 210 tickets via the ‘Paotang’ app and had won up to 31 tickets, without any prior issue.

This time, he chose the numbers based on his car registration number, 3366, and the first two digits of his house number, resulting in 283366 for yesterday’s draw.

Upon hearing from his sister that the last two digits drawn were 66, he quickly checked his phone to find he had indeed won the last two digits on all 20 tickets, amounting to a total prize of 40,000 baht. The system, however, indicated that his tickets were not winning ones.

Initially, Sarawuth thought there might be an issue with his phone or that it might be overheating. After restarting and cooling his phone, he checked again only to find the system displaying the same message. The system also stated that all digital lottery tickets for this draw had been sold out, a message that remained consistent despite repeated checks, reported Sanook.

Consequently, Sarawuth decided to lodge a police complaint as evidence and appealed to the Government Lottery Office or related parties to investigate the matter.

He emphasised that even winning the last two digits brings hope to those taking a chance on the digital lottery tickets. Hence, it is unsettling when a winning ticket is declared a non-winner, leaving winners uncertain about claiming their prize money.

He further questioned who would take responsibility if such an issue occurred with a first-prize ticket.

Sarawuth’s lottery conundrum has yet to be resolved as The Thaiger went to press.

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