Thai man to return from Israel after winning 60 million baht from savings lottery

A Thai man working in Israel during the conflict in Palestine decided to return home after his parents won 60 million baht in the savings lottery conducted by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

The official Facebook page of the BAAC, Baan Kok branch, in the northern province of Uttaradit, congratulated a Thai man who scooped the first prize in the BACC savings lottery today, November 17. The name of the man was not revealed in the post but a video of his interview was shared.

The lottery winner explained in the video that his son went to Israel to work eight years ago and is remaining in the country even though he is in danger because of the war. His son, like others, can earn more money in Israel, so he did not want to leave.

According to the man, his sons recently transferred 20,000 baht to him and his wife, encouraging them to purchase the BAAC savings lottery. Responding to their sons’ suggestion, he and his wife acquired five units each of the Golden Bag savings lottery, with each unit costing 2,000 baht. Consequently, they utilised the entire 20,000 baht sent by their sons to participate in the lottery.

Expressing surprise at their substantial win, the man clarified that they had initially seen it as another means to save money. Nevertheless, he expressed happiness with the prize and looked forward to seeing his son back in Thailand.

The Golden Bag Savings Lottery offers a variety of prizes to purchasers and the prizes are announced once a month on the 16^th, except for January when the prize is announced on the 17th as the 16th is a national holiday.

Golden Bag Savings Lottery

Golden Bag Savings Lottery tickets are like bonds, where people can buy a unit/ticket and leave it in their account to accumulate interest. Buyers receive interest of 35 baht per unit, approximately 0.875%, per year. Buyers can leave their units/tickets/bonds in their account for up to two years but if they take them out earlier they will lose their accumulated interest.

Different from the government lottery, the winner does not have to pay any taxes when claiming a prize.

Channel 3 showed a video of the lottery winner’s son talking to his friend about the prize.

“I got a phone call around 7am. The BAAC officials told me to come home and said I won a 60 million baht savings lottery. I thought they were scammers and wanted to hang up. They insisted that I had indeed won the prize. I asked them again if it was 6 million or 60 million. They said it was 60 million and turned on the videoconference so I could see my mother crying.”

The man added that his parents’ neighbours bought a lot more savings lottery tickets. He and his family bought only 20,000 baht but others bought more than 3 million baht. He had never expected to win so much money and told his friend that he was still shaking and did not know what to do next.

The man revealed that he wanted to return home immediately but could not. The BAAC officials urged him to go home by November 25 to collect the money from the bank with his parents. He said he would talk to his employer and try to return home as soon as possible.