Man wins 144 million baht in Thailand’s lottery

A lucky Thai man won a whopping 144 million baht (US$4,101,396.48) in Thailand‘s government lottery on December 1.

Today, Pachara Nathakitpaisan travelled to the Government Lottery Office in Nonthaburi province, central Thailand, to claim 96 million baht of his winnings.

On December 1, the number 375805 was drawn for the lottery’s first prize of 6 million baht. Pachara bought 16 tickets with the winning number directly through the government’s digital lottery website – winning a total of 96 million baht.

After the tax deduction of 480,000 baht, Pachara received 95,530,000 baht at the lottery office today. He said he was “happy.”

Lucky Pachara had also bought eight more tickets with the same number from Kong Salak Plus Lottery Office, raising his total winnings to a staggering 144 million baht.

The newly-made millionaire told reporters that he almost didn’t enter this time around because he had previously spent a lot of money on tickets and never won anything.

However, Pachara said he woke up on November 17 and couldn’t resist entering. He went to the temple to light incense and pray for good luck before buying 24 lottery tickets.

Pachara said he will continue to work and live a normal life and will split the prize money into three parts. First, Pachara will take care of himself, and perhaps buy a house in preparation to start a family, as he said he plans on getting married soon.

Secondly, he wants to use the money to take care of his family, which includes his father and siblings.

The third part will be spent “helping society and religion,” said Pachara.

Pachara said he would like to thank the Government Lottery Office for creating a digital platform which makes it more convenient to enter the lottery. He said he has never entered the “underground” lottery.

A “win” motorbike taxi driver named Ek went viral last week when he won 12 million baht (US$345,050.76) in the government lottery. Lucky Ek bought two tickets with the number 375805.