You may find the winning numbers here...

Gamblers the world over pray to their gods for success and inspiration, or simply to be given one last chance to hit the big time. But few – in the West anyway – will head for the church to ask their local vicar for lottery numbers. In Thailand, however, a visit to the temple or a shrine to pray for the right numbers is commonplace, and some monks have a reputation for being able to divine which digits will do the trick. Other Thais visit fortune tellers for lottery advice.

When a respected Buddhist monk dies, many people will go to the monk’s temple to pay their respects but also in the hope of getting lottery hints – maybe the date of the monk’s birth or death or, if he was hospitalised before his death, the number of his hospital room. Other sources of numbers are car registration plates, addresses or telephone numbers.

Rubbing the holy tree

Odder yet, there are certain holy trees which, if one rubs the bark the right way will, so believers say, reveal winning numbers.

But the most bizarre source of all is weird animals or plants. Say someone discovers a giant fungus growing in his outdoor toilet, or has a pig or cow that gives birth to malformed offspring – a calf with two heads, perhaps – he can be guaranteed a profitable window of opportunity as hundreds of people descend on his home to put talcum powder on the animal’s body and rub the fur gently in the search for winning digits. If forbidden to touch this marvel of nature, the punters will simply stare at it until they can divine the numbers.

Phuket.com talked to some islanders to see just how effective all this weirdness is.

The dead bird:

Dead bird

On a boring Monday afternoon, Jai Maneesai, a company receptionist, heard a thump at the front door of the office. Checking what had caused the noise, she found a dead bird on the ground just outside. “It came from nowhere and hit the glass door hard – I could tell from the mark it left on the glass,” Khun Jai says.

This was an opportunity too good to pass up. She wasted no time. She went straight out and bought a lottery ticket using the company’s address for the key numbers. After all, she says, “How often do you get a stupid bird flying into a door like that? It was the first time I’d seen it happen, anyway.” She won a couple of thousand baht.

The motorbike accident:

A lucky registration number

Using a motorbike in Phuket can be a challenge. Suthep Tohmon knows this only too well, from riding to and from work every day.

“I was waiting to make a right turn, when a pick-up truck came from nowhere and hit me,” he explains. “Luckily, I wasn’t hurt but the bike was a wreck.”

He was upset but thought that he might be able to retrieve something positive from the experience. He bought a lottery ticket using the registration number of the truck. He won.

Omm money plenty come:

Meditating in front of a shrine

“I believe that if you concentrate hard enough, you’ll see special things, like I once did in my meditation,” says Manaswee Seh-low, who has been meditating regularly for many years – for peace of mind, not for any kind of gain.

One day, however, three numbers leaped into her mind, as clear as day. She thought nothing of it, but learned later that the digits were the last three in that week’s winning lottery number.

“They came into my mind quite unexpectedly; I wasn’t looking for them,” Khun Manaswee says. But ever since then, whenever she meditates or goes to bed, she always keeps paper and pen handy. “I keep them right next to me in case the numbers come to me again.” As any Boy Scout will tell you, “Be prepared.”

Did you know?

Thailand’s first state lottery was introduced in 1874, during the reign of King Rama V. Today, 134 year later, the lottery – the only legal form of gambling in the Kingdom – is a national obsession.

Anyone may play and win the state lottery in Thailand. Winners must claim their prize within two years and pay tax of 0.5% tax on their winnings.