Fruit vendor wins 30 million baht lottery jackpot in Thailand

A fruit vendor from the Rayong province in eastern Thailand won 30 million baht (US$916,310) in the government lottery yesterday. He says it will pay off his debt and pay for his children’s education.

The new-found millionaire, 33 year old Phongpat Witheethep, was at the market in Pluak Daeng district where he sells fruit for a living when he spotted a lottery ticket that he “liked the look of.”

Phongpat had such a good feeling about the number 297411 that he decided to buy five tickets with the same number.

Yesterday, February 1, the number 297411 was drawn as the lottery’s first prize of 6 million baht. Lucky Phongpat increased his winnings fivefold with his stack of duplicate tickets.

The fruit merchant revealed his plans…

“Once I have received my winnings, I will pay off my debts and move my family back to our hometown in Khon Kaen in northeast Thailand. The money that is leftover will be invested and used to pay for the education of my two children.”

He said he never expected to win and cannot put into words how exactly how he feels.

At 7pm yesterday, the fruitmonger travelled to Pluak Daeng Police Station with his five winning tickets to record evidence of his jackpot lottery win just in case anything happened.

In December, a “win” motorbike taxi driver named Ek from Samut Prakan went viral when he won 12 million baht (US$366,636) in the government lottery.

Ek revealed that he chose the winning lottery number 375805 using the age of his ex-wife who passed away the week prior. He also said the winnings would pay off his debts.

Last month, two Thai men died in unrelated road accidents just hours after both winning lottery prizes. One won 4000 baht and one won 2000 baht.

In December, a Thai man bought so many tickets that he won 144 million baht in the lottery – perhaps the biggest lottery jackpot ever won in Thailand.