The lottery drama involving Seksakol Atthawong, a close aide to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, could probably be nothing but a political manoeuvre targeting those on the opposite side of the political spectrum, not a sincere move to solve the overpricing problem.
There have emerged allegations about a hidden agenda after Mr Seksakol, alias Rambo, led a series of raids on online lottery distributors, among them Bluedragon Lottery Company in Nonthaburi's Pak Kret district, along with its subsidiary in Loei's Muang district which is known for connections with a member of the opposition party. Another distributor, Sua Daeng Company, or Red Tiger, is reported to have links with Capt Thamanat Prompow, who led a breakaway group from the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) after Gen Prayut kicked him out of the cabinet. He now has his own party, Setthakij Thai.
It should be noted that Capt Thamanat has had substantial influence in the lottery market. During a House no-confidence debate in 2020, he conceded that before he entered politics, he had been one of the five major distributors, known as the Five Tigers, that received lottery quotas from the Government Lottery Office (GLO).
His network had about 500 dealers in Bangkok and several more in the provinces. On an asset declaration list he submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, Capt Thamanat indicated income of 3 million baht per month from lottery sales. He claimed that, despite no longer having any quotas, he derived income from market rental fees as he still owned about 10 vendor booths.
What remains unclear is whether the rental deal was made by him or his company and if he still gains that monthly income.
What is clear, is this: He must be unhappy with the lottery crackdown.
Gen Prayut pledged to tackle lottery overpricing when he took office following the 2014 coup, and he did make efforts towards solving the problem. Yet almost eight years on the problem remains. Tickets, priced at 80 baht apiece, are being sold at 100-120 baht, or more.
After such futile efforts, Gen Prayut last month assigned Anucha Nakasai, a minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, to lead another special panel to tackle the problem. Mr Seksakol, meanwhile, who heads a sub-panel, has full power to conduct raids and searches.
Mr Seksakol, formerly a key figure in the red-shirt faction, has tried to prove his worth by carrying out all government assignments and always acting as a kind of guard for the PM. Indeed as infighting in the ruling PPRP got out of control, Mr Seksakol formed a new party, Ruam Thai Sang Chart, with the sole aim of nominating Gen Prayut as candidate for the premiership in the next election.
It's said his new party has built up a new network, comprising businessmen and politicians. There is speculation that Piraphan Salirathavibhaaga, another close aide to Gen Prayut, will lead the party after he resigned from a top political position.
All the while, Gen Prayut's renewed attempts at tackling lottery overpricing are like an ever-opening can of worms.
Mr Seksakol took aim at nine major distributors. Of the total, three companies, while having no quotas from the GLO, are said to have secured seven million tickets in each lottery round through several dealers.
During the recent raids, two million tickets were seized from Bluedragon Lottery and more than four million from Lottery Plus, but only 9,000 tickets were found at Red Tiger, despite its being the third-largest distributor.
The authorities planned to charge the companies with selling overpriced lottery tickets as well as marketing intervention causing price distortion. On Wednesday, Pachara Messiyaporn, head of Bluedragon, cried foul over the raid and threatened a lawsuit.
With the crackdown continuing, Mr Seksakol faces a difficult time following the leak of an audio clip featuring a conversation between him and Jureeporn Sinthuprai, a PPRP member, concerning lottery quotas.
Mr Seksakol, despite first insisting the clip had been doctored to discredit him, then went on to say the conversation was just a joke. In the clip, a man is heard telling a woman that he borrowed 15 million baht from another man and used it to finance an election campaign, adding he didn't know that the man who lent the money had anything to do with lottery quotas.
The clip puts Mr Seksakol in hot water. On Thursday, the House committee on corruption and misconduct prevention received a petition requesting an investigation into alleged misconduct. Meanwhile, Mr Seksakol's latest Rambo exploits have backfired politically, given they've effectively pushed Capt Thamanat and his party to the other side. This will be worrying for the government, which faces a no-confidence debate in the next few months. By that time Capt Thamanat and his party, whose political stance remains unclear, could act as the government's enemy.
Besides, Mr Seksakol seems to miss the point. It is well known that lottery overpricing stems from the quota debacle involving the GLO and major distributors. The old Five Tigers are gone, yet only to be replaced with large distributors who can still take advantage of a distorted system.
The GLO is well aware of the lottery's problems, but its claims of wanting to fix them lack sincerity for it's not in the GLO's interest to do so. Under the system, 85% of lottery tickets are allocated to groups of dealers at 70.40 baht a piece. Yet, the agency allows non-eligible dealers to obtain tickets and make ill-gotten gains by selling them to major online distributors who manipulate the market.
Among lacklustre efforts by the GLO has been increasing the number of tickets available from 37 million in 2014 to 100 million currently, with hope of breaking seller monopolies. Such hope has proved unfounded.
It's unlikely Mr Seksakol's mission will lead to a breakthrough. What is likely is a shift of interest from old distributors to new ones, perhaps with new political connections.
Mr Seksakol has suggested that dealers representing charity foundations and vulnerable groups could use new online platforms with controlled prices, while regulations will be further tightened. In the meantime, Mr Seksakol and Gen Prayut must wait to see when and where the wheel of fortune stops spinning.
