Lottery vendor allegedly burns shrine for giving locals winning numbers
Residents in the central province of Ratchaburi accused a lottery vendor of burning the sacred Mae Niang-Mae Norm Shrine because its spirits have been giving locals in the area the correct winning numbers, causing the vendor to lose money.
Officers from Mueang Ratchaburi Police Station received a report that a fire had broken out at a small shelter in front of the shrine last night. On arrival, officers met firefighters along with locals and a community leader who helped put out the blaze.
It took them five minutes to get the situation under control and the statues of Mae Niang and Mae Norm were unharmed.
A 56 year old police officer, Poj Phurahong, investigated the scene and concluded that some locals may have left the candles or joss sticks burning. However, locals were not convinced by this conclusion and strongly believed that a lottery vendor was responsible for the fire.
Residents pointed out that the source of the fire was more than 3 metres away from the incense pot. The locals were convinced that the shrine was very sacred and that it gave accurate winning lottery numbers to many people in the area.
They said that the more people won the lotteries, the more profit the vendor lost. However, there was no evidence to support their speculation.
Underground lottery
According to residents, the lottery tickets were believed to be associated with an illicit lottery known as the underground lottery. In this clandestine lottery, individuals had the opportunity to purchase specific numbers of their choice by conveying their preferences to the ticket vendor.
The vendor would duly note these numbers, awaiting the official government lottery draw. The winning numbers corresponded with those of the government’s lottery, but the prize amounts varied depending on the individual vendor.
Channel 3 reported that the shrine was built on the site where Mae Niang and Mae Norm were killed in a car accident. The pair were traditional Thai dancers when they were alive, so locals whose wishes were granted would return to the shrine to play traditional Thai music to show their gratitude to the spirits.
The superstitious power of the shrine was demonstrated that night when a group of women visited the shrine to pray. One of the members told Channel 3 that she made a wish to win the lottery at the shrine and she did. She earned tens of thousands of baht from the prize and returned to the shrine to offer music.
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