Bangkok: – The Government Lottery Office is expected in June to
start designating convenience stores as new outlets for distributing and
selling lottery tickets.
The GLO will reallocate lottery quotas designed to cap the lottery
retail price at 80 baht by using convenience stores to counterbalance
the market control of five lottery wholesalers.
GLO board chairman Somchai Sujjapongse said the revamp of lottery distribution system should complete by this year.
All existing contracts for selling 74 million lottery tickets will expire, paving way for the reallocation.
The first batch of contracts for 48 million lottery tickets is to
be up for grabs in June. The remaining contracts will be terminated in
July, August and December.
This month, the GLO is going to start negotiating with major
operators of convenience stores, such as Seven Eleven, Big C, Tesco
Lotus and Family Mart.
The GLO plans to install online ticket dispensing machines at
convenience stores, voicing hopes that this will force wholesalers and
retail vendors to stop inflating the lottery price.
Khuang Khamthee, chairman of lottery vendors with physical
disabilities in Nakhon Ratchasima, has voiced opposition to the planned
introduction of ticket dispensing machines.
Khuang said vendors with physical disabilities would be at the
disadvantage as they can sell lottery within limited hours while the
convenience stores is open twenty four hours, seven days a week.
National Reform Council member Sangsit Piriyarangsan said the
ticket dispensing machines would unfairly boost the business of
convenience stores at the expense of individual vendors.
Sangsit said the GLO should consider bypassing powerful wholesalers and distributing the tickets directly to individual vendors.
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