Bangkoks new airport
This from todays Bangkok Post.....
Thais were glued to the television yesterday to watch the landing and take-off trial at Suvarnabhumi airport, in the hope it would yield lucky numbers for tomorrow's lottery draw. ``People called me to book numbers 929, 919, 29, 92, 992 and 229 or those numbers backwards. I think major bookies might have to suspend the booking or pay winners only half of full prizes,'' a major bookmaker said.
``The numbers came from the time Airbus 340-600 aircraft Wattana Nakhon touched down on the runway _ at 9.19am on Sept 29 _ and because Prime Minister Thaksin [Shinawatra] was on the flight,'' an underground lottery fan said.
The bookmaker said other popular numbers were derived from the prime minister's flight number, TG 8960.
Many Thais are superstitious and when choosing lottery tickets often go for numbers related to the births, ages, illnesses and deaths of important figures, or decrypted from strange trees and animals.
Earlier, scores of underground lottery fans enjoyed a windfall from numbers related to the prime minister's birthday, July 26, as well as his age.
Several underground lottery fans expressed confidence that Mr Thaksin would bring them good luck again, saying numbers related to the prime minister had won them more money than those related to other important people.
One fan said many people looked to statistics for inspiration when rumours went about that the lottery was rigged.
Previously they would decode numbers from uncommon things, especially Sunday morning dreams.
Research by Sangsit Piriyarangsan and his team from Chulalongkorn University's faculty of economics found that up to half the population gambled on the lottery.
Two-thirds of this activity was on the underground lottery, using numbers given by monks or those related to important people.
``Mr Thaksin is so proud of the technical testing at Nong Ngu Hao [Suvarnabhumi] airport.
``He expects his government will enjoy not only fame and income from the airport, but also huge sums of money from the government lottery,'' one political commentator said yesterday.