Thai lottery vendor accused of fraud in refusal to pay 18,000 baht prize

A Thai woman filed a complaint against a lottery vendor accusing her of fraud after the seller refused to pay a prize of 18,000 baht on the December 1 draw.

The 51 year old real estate business operator, Aramsri Hathongkham, filed a complaint with the officers at Mueang Ubon Ratchathani Police Station in the Isaan province of Ubon Ratchathani on December 17. She reported that the lottery vendor, 30 year old Yao, refused to pay 18,000 baht to her for her five winning tickets.

Aramsri explained that She stated that she had been a customer of Yao since October and had regularly bought leftover lottery tickets from her. Yao reportedly begged her to buy the leftover tickets claiming she had financial issues and needed money.

Aramsri explained that she agreed to help Yao buy, but Yao had to allow her to pay for the tickets after the draw. Yao agreed with the condition, making Aramsri continue buying tickets from Yao for the draw on October 16, November 1, November 16, and November 1 and pay the cost later.

Aramsri insisted that she always paid for the tickets and never cheated on Yao even if she did not win. If she won the prize, she would ask Yao to deduct the cost of the tickets before transferring the prize to her.

Aramsri bought lottery tickets from Yao four times for the drawing Aramsri insisted that she had never cheated on Yao and paid for the tickets every time after the result was announced. However, Yao consistently delayed transferring the prize to her.

Unexpected fees, delays, and fraud

Aramsri provided an example of Yao’s behaviour saying she won the lottery on December 1 and had to wait for a few days for Yao to give her the prize. Yao also cut off a service fee of 3% without informing her in advance.

For the December 16 draw, Aramsri bought several tickets and agreed to pay Yao afterwards, as they had done previously. When five tickets won, entitling her to 18,000 baht, Yao refused to pay, claiming she had already sold the tickets to someone else because Aramsri had not paid for them.

Aramsri suspected that Yao intended to keep the prize for herself, leading her to file a complaint with the police. She emphasized that she had booked the tickets, and they rightfully belonged to her.

Aramsri issued a warning to others about buying lottery tickets online, expressing her decision never to do so again.

ThaiRath reported that Yao contacted Aramsri and promised compensation, but an agreement on the amount was yet to be reached