Creative and sustainable solutions for the online lottery

Expressing his political stance, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has cancelled online lottery ticket sales via automatic vending machines and agreed to compensate for private contractors and retailers who have already invested in machines. However, this announcement has created waves of dissatisfaction and caused many to think he is insincere because it occurred after one year of government operation.

On the programme, “Confidence in Thailand with Prime Minister Abhisit,” he once referred to the online lottery, “My clear standpoint even prior to becoming Prime Minister was that the government should not encourage gambling, nor legalize illegal behaviour.”

But this time, the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the “legal lottery” may disadvantageously affect Thai society, both short and long term because the online lottery can “fall and rise again” due to the policies of opposition parties who will form future governments.

Whereas the Democrat Party on the opposition bench disagreed with the government online lottery, another big government party almost pushed this project through to completion before it was canceled. Consequently, when Abhisit’s government is through, Thailand’s new governing party will surely support a comeback for this online lottery project, rendering the current government’s good intentions wasted and its budgetary compensation for all stakeholders useless; consideration of online lottery projects will be repetitive and inconclusive through successive government rotations.

Such persistent shifts in political stance between two parties in opposition could lead to more negative consequences than positive where practice is without flexibility. Hence, a government that puts the interests of its people before political agenda should look for creative solutions that can move this policy on, “at least cost,” from the existing situation.

Personally, I do not agree with legalizing all illegal vices regarded as leading people astray. Nevertheless, if a policy has already been enacted or is difficult to cancel, such as the online lottery in which investment had already been made, creative solutions should instead be made for its proper use.

I have been proposing a solution to this issue for a long time now. In my opinion, if a lottery is inevitable, then lottery buying and selling methods should be changed. The lottery money that people pay should be turned into long-term savings. The government can increase the number and variety of rewards for winning the lottery, not just cash, but useful rewards for buyers, such as long term savings accounts, land, houses or scholarships. For those who are not rewarded, their lottery expenditure will be partially separated into retirement savings, for withdrawal only after retirement. Thus, people will increase their savings, which will be helpful to - mostly poor - lottery buyers who will receive some of their money again. The government might specify one government financial institution to manage these savings, together with The Government Lottery Office.

These kinds of solutions might be more beneficial to all because they can be applied regardless of the party in power and without everything starting over again after claiming political standpoints and rejecting solutions.

Dr Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
Senior Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School , Harvard University
kriengsak@kriengsak.com, kriengsak.com, drdancando.com