BANGKOK ONLINE LOTTERY APPROVED - AT LAST!
7 August 2009
Thailand's Council of State gives the
go-ahead on long-delayed project
Thailand's Council of State has given its imprimatur for
the Finance Ministry to action its long-delayed plans
for a national online lottery, the Bangkok Post reports
this week.
Finance permanent secretary Sathit
Limpongpan said that the Government Lottery Office (GLO)
board had asked the Council to rule on the lottery
scheme because of questions over its legality, and that
the government's legal arm had ruled the online lottery
scheme did not violate any laws.
One question was
whether the GLO could print and distribute two and
three-digit lottery tickets through vending machines.
The Council of State secretary-general, Porntip Jala,
said the GLO was not prohibited from printing materials
other than normal lottery tickets and thus it could
print the online lottery tickets. "We have already given
advice to the GLO about four to five issues. It now
depends on the GLO to decide the fate of the scheme," Ms
Porntip said.
The council's ruling was forwarded
to the GLO last week.
There are now no further
legal hurdles for the online lottery proposal, but
whether it goes ahead will depend on a study being
conducted by Thammasat University.
Nakharin
Mektrairat, dean of the faculty of political science,
has been commissioned to oversee a public opinion survey
on the lottery. The results of the survey of about 10
000 people across the country are expected by the end of
this (August) month. If the poll findings go against the
online lottery, the project would have to be reviewed to
look at the consequences of its cancellation.
"Personally, I neither oppose nor support the scheme,"
said the finance permanent secretary. "But if the public
does not want it, I think we should study the contract
and find out the consequences if it needs to be
terminated."
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva
said more details are needed before the government
finally can approve the online lottery.
The GLO
signed a contract with Loxley GTech Technology of the US
in 2005 (see previous InfoPowa report) to install ticket
vending machines with sales scheduled to begin in 2006.
However, the deal with a previous administration to
tackle the problem of ticket overpricing and illegal
underground betting never materialised due to legal
problems and strong opposition.
The project was
subsequently suspended on revenue-sharing fears that it
failed to comply with related laws, but the income split
was subsequently reviewed and revised to comply with the
Government Lottery Office Act of 1974, limiting prizes
to 60 percent of sales. Of the total revenue, 28 percent
would go to government coffers and 12 percent would be
used to fund the GLO's operations.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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