This was in sharp contrast to the previous practice when the jackpot value had accumulated to Bt100 million.

After the GLO board met for several hours yesterday, Permanent Secretary for Finance Suparat Kawatkul, said the new method would award punters with lottery tickets that had the set number - which matched the winning set number - and the ticket's running number - whose last six digits matched the six-digit lottery's first prize numbers.

The prizes will also vary according to the purchase price; a ticket bought for Bt100 would get Bt10 million, a Bt50 ticket would get Bt5 million and the Bt20 ticket would win Bt2.5 million, Suparat said.

He emphasised that if the draw had no jackpot winner there would be no prize money accumulated for the next draw as in the past.

However, "special prizes" would be introduced enabling 97 people to win, Suparat said.

Punters who had the lottery ticket's running number matched with the six-digit lottery's first prize numbers, but failed to match the winning set number, could still win.

The special prizes also varied with the purchase price; the Bt100 ticket would win Bt500,000, the Bt50 ticket would get Bt250,000 and the Bt20 ticket would receive Bt100,000, Suparat said.

For the lottery agencies, the commission percentage would remain at 1 per cent of the jackpot and the special prizes.

Suparat was confident the two- and three-digit lottery sales for the November 16 draw would be no lower than usual.