Boonruwee urges the government to crack down on lottery money laundering, revealing scammer gangs use tactics to set up operations selling government lottery tickets through online platforms, targeting first-prize tickets at inflated prices as a money laundering source.
At 11:00 a.m. on 27 May 2026 at the Parliament, Mr. Boonruwee Yomjinda, party-list MP and leader of the Ruamjai Thai Party, and vice-chairman of the House Consumer Protection Committee, called on the government to urgently suppress scammer gangs setting up operations to sell government lottery tickets as a money laundering source. He said these scammers establish companies on online platforms to sell lottery tickets, buying from middlemen at prices over 90 baht and selling online at 80 baht. Although they sell at a loss, they use this channel to launder illegally obtained money. These scammers operate in several groups, especially the 'Kok An' network, which uses Thai nominees to trade government lottery tickets in various ways, such as buying first-prize tickets from agents at prices higher than the actual prize. Even though the prize is only 6 million baht, they use it to convert black money into white. Afterwards, they open platforms accepting deposits in dollars, digital currencies, or cryptocurrencies via blockchain, enabling fast cross-border transfers that are hard to track. As heard before the election, the Bank of Thailand detected suspicious funds of 398.087 billion baht entering the country, raising concerns about their use in vote-buying transactions. He urged the government to decisively suppress scammers in Thailand, noting there are hundreds or thousands of nominee companies tied to scammer gangs profiting through government lottery sales channels.
Mr. Boonruwee added that he also calls on the government to urgently solve the problem of lottery tickets being sold above the official price of 80 baht, which causes consumer hardship. The price should be fixed at 80 baht. Although every government has tried to solve this, the root cause must be addressed comprehensively. The Consumer Protection Committee will discuss with the Government Lottery Office to push for justice so that people can buy tickets at 80 baht, including efforts to increase government lottery prizes in the future.