{"id":777037663,"date":"2026-02-05T00:56:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T03:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777037663"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:41:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:41:54","slug":"anti-gambling-network-warns-over-rising-lottery-schemes-in-thailand-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/anti-gambling-network-warns-over-rising-lottery-schemes-in-thailand-politics","title":{"rendered":"Anti-gambling network warns over lottery schemes in Thailand politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thais reportedly spend more than THB250bn <\/strong>(US$7.9bn) annually on lottery tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Thailand.- A network of anti-gambling groups in Thailand has criticised the use of lottery-based incentives in election campaigns, cautioning that they could worsen gambling-related harm and addiction. Headed by the Stop Gambling Foundation<\/strong>, the coalition said some political parties had used lottery schemes to drive public engagement, from household savings programmes to SME registration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The network noted that all forms of lottery, whether government-run or not, qualify as gambling under Thailand\u2019s 1935 Gambling Act<\/strong>. It pointed to figures indicating that Thais spend more than THB250bn <\/strong>(US$7.9bn) annually on lottery tickets and that lotteries attract a large player base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It says that in 2023, 500,000 under 18s purchased lottery products along with nearly four million people aged 19 to 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said the rise of government lotteries has also driven the expansion of underground and \u201csatellite\u201d lotteries and claimed that one in five lottery players in Thailand views themselves as addicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The network\u2019s statement contributes to growing debate over lottery schemes in politics, particularly during elections. The Pheu Thai Party\u2019s \u201cnine millionaires a day\u201d programme awards nine daily prizes of THB1m (US$31,700). While the party says that the initiative is intended to improve data collection and tax compliance, critics argue that it encourages gambling and undermines ethical standards.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Malaysia considers tougher laws against illegal online gambling<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thais reportedly spend more than THB250bn (US$7.9bn) annually on lottery tickets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":14821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"A network of anti-gambling groups in Thailand has criticized the use of lottery-based incentives in election campaigns, citing concerns over increased gambling harm and addiction, particularly among youth. They argue that such schemes, even when government-run, fall under the 1935 Gambling Act and undermine ethical standards, despite political parties' claims of improving data collection and tax compliance.","focusai_entities":"Stop Gambling Foundation, Pheu Thai Party","focusai_location":"Thailand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.8), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Framework Efficacy","query":"How might the Thai government reconcile the 1935 Gambling Act with modern lottery-based political incentives, and what are the implications for future iGaming regulatory frameworks?"},{"label":"Social Impact Assessment","query":"What specific governance frameworks could be implemented to mitigate the reported increase in gambling addiction and underage participation stemming from government-promoted lottery schemes?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16333],"tags":[3573],"class_list":["post-777037663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777037663"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777037682,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777037663\/revisions\/777037682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777037663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777037663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777037663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}