With nine being a lucky number in Thailand, today’s date 09/09/09, is regarded as a particularly auspicious day. The official calendar in Thailand counts the years according to the Buddhist Era (B.E.) which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar so the current year is 2552. However, the Gregorian calendar is also used and on days like today, superstitious Thai people will be glad that it is. There have been numerous events to mark the auspicious day. Prime Minister Abhisit has chaired a ceremony of respect for the King of Thailand who is the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty. Couples have got married and new business ventures have been launched today on the basis that it is a lucky day.
It certainly has been a very lucky day for a 76-year-old man from a village in Khon Kaen province in north-east Thailand who will finally get his hands on a 6.1 million Baht lottery win. Sith Kitjapreuk won the lottery in May 2004 and the money was placed into his daughter’s bank account. However, the lottery vendor accused Sith of stealing the tickets, which had a sales value of 360 Baht, and a court froze the bank account where the prize money had been deposited. In 2006, Sith was cleared of theft charges but was still unable to claim his winnings because the lottery vendor appealed against the court verdict. The Appeals Court have now upheld the original court verdict and it all means that Sith will finally get his hands on the money. In true Isaan style, friends of Sith say they will celebrate with a som-tam feast in the village.
