Thai lottery  Thailand's official national lottery (, ) is administered by The Government Lottery Office (GLO). The lottery is drawn on the first and the sixteenth of every month. It is one of only two forms of legalised gambling permitted in Thailand, the other being horse racing in Bangkok. The lottery in Thailand is hugely popular despite the low odds of winning and the unfavourable payout ratio. The payout ratio for the Thai lottery is 60%, as compared with world-wide averages of 74% for bingo, 81% for horse racing, 89% for slot machines, and 98% in blackjack (basic rules). It is the most popular legal form of gambling in Thailand. Around 19.2 of 67 million Thais played the government lottery, spending 76 billion baht (US$2.3 billion) in 2014, according to the Family Network Foundation's Secretary Wanchai Boonpracha. Unlike in most countries, where the government licenses and monitors the lottery business, the Thai GLO itself prints and sells the tickets to wholesalers. The strict laws that forbid other gambling activities results in the GLO pocketing 28% of lottery profits for state use. As the government lottery is a public concern and is a source of state revenue, it was made a state enterprise with a legal identity. The Government Lottery Office Act B.E. 2517 was enacted on 11 September 1974, and became effective on 1 October 1974. Lottery tickets were first issued in the reign (1868–1910) of King Rama V. At that time the king granted the Royal Bodyguard permission to operate a lottery on the occasion of his birthday in 1874. Lotteries were then held intermittently until 1933 when they became a standard government revenue source. Over the years the price of lottery ticket has climbed from one baht to its present official price of 80 baht, although that price has been seldom observed, a surcharge invariably being added. The military government that took power in May 2014 has made lottery reform one of its priorities. Starting 16 June 2015, the military government has mandated that the price of a lottery ticket will not exceed 80 baht. Starting 1 August 2015, what is commonly called the "jackpot" or bonus first prize of 22 or 30 million baht will be eliminated. In Thailand, women play the lottery more than men by a small margin (52.6 against 47.4%). Lottery gamblers tended to be drawn from working age brackets: 21–30 years (28.2%), 31–40 years (30.2%), and 41–50 years (21.8%).