Banglamung District Chief Chakorn Kanjawattana led a team of undercover police and soldiers to check lottery vendors across the area to ensure they were selling tickets at legal prices.
Soldiers from the 14th Military Circle in Chonburi, police officers and volunteers fanned out across Pattaya June 4 to check that tickets were being sold for 80 baht a pair to comply with the government’s renewed push to standardize prices.
Vendors overcharging for ducats are subject to a fine of up to 10,000 baht and / or a month in prison.
Banglamung District Chief Chakorn Kanjawattana led a team of police and soldiers to check lottery vendors at a shopping mall in North Pattaya.
The Government Lottery Office, following a dictate from the National Council for Peace and Order, overhauled its ticket-allocation system after previous contracts expired June 1. Wholesale prices were lowered to afford vendors more profit and resale of allocated tickets to brokers and resellers was prohibited.
The NCPO’s goal, since the May 2014 coup, has been to “bring happiness to the people” by lowering the street price of lottery tickets from as much as 120 baht a pair to the legal 80-baht rate. Its first attempt to do so a year ago failed miserably due to lack of enforcement. The junta hopes structural changes at the GLO will lead to success this year.
Banglamung registered 220 lottery vendors in May and invited all vendors to attend a meeting to explain the new system and penalties. It also is working with local government officials to train them to inspect and control sellers in their communities.
On June 4, five teams of 10 officers checked vendors with the use of undercover agents. Chakorn said the secret checks will be done routinely.
Furthermore, teams of military Department of Special Investigation, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Interior officers will be stationed in each province.
