Demand up for govt’s N3 lotto tickets

Consumer demand remains robust for the purchase of the government’s three-digit lottery tickets, despite complaints about the difficulty of finding lottery stores.
The Finance Ministry says it plans to open additional lottery shops to expand service coverage.
The continued popularity of the “N3 lottery,” sold at various lottery outlets, was reported on Saturday in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Muang district. Several shops welcomed a steady stream of customers who snapped up N3 tickets.
This contrasts with the quiet atmosphere at stalls offering traditional lottery tickets for sale along the streets, which reported few customers Saturday morning.
The government says the primary objective of introducing the N3 lottery, or three-digit lottery, is to address the issue of overpriced lottery tickets available for purchase through market mechanisms.
The N3 lottery provides customers with more choices. A key advantage is that, for just 20 baht per ticket, buyers have a better chance of winning than with the traditional lottery.
Every N3 ticket is eligible for prizes in one of four categories: 3-digit straight, 3-digit alternating, 2-digit straight, and special prizes.
Payments for tickets are made digitally via the Paotang application during the sandbox phase.
Jiraporn Nguenkham, an N3 lottery vendor at Korat Lotto shop in Nakhon Ratchasima, said demand for the new lottery has remained solid since the N3 tickets went on sale during a six-month pilot on Wednesday.
She expressed hope the government would consider opening more points of sale due to overwhelming interest from the public.
In Khon Kaen, Piyapong Phanthanawiboon, a lottery vendor, said the N3 lottery has been well received by the public.
However, some customers need more time to get used to the system, and the store has staff on hand to assist them.
He said there are only seven N3 lottery outlets in Khon Kaen, including his shop, which has attracted a lot of attention from people.
Mr Piyapong added that technical glitches have occurred when many tickets are bought at the same time, requiring multiple scans to complete the purchase. The tickets are priced at 20 baht each, and up to 100 tickets can be purchased at a time.