Lottery winner drinks himself to death in Pattaya

A Thai man went out drinking to celebrate winning the lottery but did not wake up the next day. He was found lying dead in his bedroom surrounded by bottles of liquor yesterday morning in Pattaya, Chon Buri province, eastern Thailand.

Officers from Bang Lamung Police Station and rescue workers from Sawang Boriboon Foundation were called to a house in the Nong Lai subdistrict early yesterday morning after receiving news that a man had died in his bedroom.

Police found the body of a 40 year old man surrounded by empty bottles of all kinds of alcohol. Police did not find any wounds on his body or any signs of foul play.

The man’s 59 year old mother, Mrs A (pseudonym), told police that her son won 100,000 baht in the lottery on Sunday with winning ticket number 613105. Mrs A said he loved playing the lottery and won prizes fairly regularly.

Every time her son won a prize, no matter how big or small, he would always give some of his winnings to his mother, Mrs A told the police.

Mrs A said that her son went out drinking to celebrate his winnings. She said that she told her son to be wary. She believed that because he had gained something easily, he could lose something easily. However, she never expected he would lose his life, she told the police.

“My son was a heavy drinker. I had warned him to take it easy on the drink to take care of his health.

“He once told me that if he was going to die, he wanted to die before his mother.

“As for the lottery winnings, the money will be used to pay for his funeral to make merit for him. The rest of the money will be given to charity. His funeral ceremony will take place in his hometown in Buriram province.”

His body was taken for an autopsy at Bang Lamung Hospital.