Around 100 disabled people staged a protest in front of the Government Lottery Office (GLO) in Bangkok to oppose the establishment of an online lottery system yesterday
The protesters, led by Disabled Lottery Traders Federation of Thailand Chairman Amnuay Klinyoo, blocked two lanes at Ratchadamnoen Road yesterday. They expressed concern over losing their means of livelihood once the online lottery system is implemented.
According to the Bangkok Post, the cabinet had given the greenlight for an online lottery system in an effort to curb the over pricing of lottery tickets.
GLO Board of Directors Chair Benja Luicharoen said the online lottery will be launched next year. At the moment, she said, they are inspecting the lotto vending machines installed across Thailand in 2006. The Chairman added that so far, they have been able to restore 500 lottery vending machines out of 6,000.
Ms Benja was also quick to assure protesters that the online lottery will not affect the disabled sellers. She said the online lottery will only be offering two- and three-digit lottery tickets, while the six-digit lottery tickets will still be sold the traditional way.
