In debt lotto vendor wins B42m

In debt lotto vendor wins B42m

The owner of a lottery shop in Udon Thani became an instant multi-millionaire on Nov 16 when eight of the tickets left unsold in her shop won a total of 42 million baht of the first-prize money.

Nantha Fakkhkao, 51, who runs a lottery shop on Udon Dussadee Road in Muang district, said  tickets for the Nov 16 draw did not sell well, probably because it clashed with the the traditional tod kathin robe offering ceremonies and people were busy with farm harvests.

Mrs Nantha said that before the lottery draw on Nov 16 she was 400,000 baht deeper in debt because of the tickets left unsold.  So she had planned to borrow another one million baht from a bank to keep her business going, even though she already had an accumulated debt of 10 million baht.

But things turned completely in her favour when eight unsold tickets with number 639500 won a total of 42 million baht in first-prize money - 30 million baht from five charity tickets and 12 million baht from three ordinary tickets.

She also won another 800,000 baht from the tickets with a number preceding or following the winning number.

Mrs Nantha said that for every draw her shop invested 600,000-700,000 baht in lottery tickets for sale. Most of the time the tickets were sold out, but sometime there were some left unsold, but not usually this many.

She said her family quietly went to the Government Lottery Office in Bangkok on Nov 19 to collect the winnings without telling anyone of their good fortune for safety reasons. 

She planned to hold a religious rite at the shop on the morning of Nov 23 and set up 15 Chinese dinner tables to feast regular customers in the evening.

Other people would be entertained with mo lam performances of  northeastern-style folklore songs and dances  on stage, for three consecutive nights, Mrs Nantha said.

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