Thai man admits stealing & burning neighbour's S$236,427 winning lottery ticket

A Thai woman who won a $6 million baht (S$236,427) lottery jackpot lost her prize after her neighbour's husband stole and burned the winning ticket, admitting he thought she was too quiet to fight back.

The 54-year-old victim, Sayan, had bought three lottery tickets and went to her neighbour Waew's home to check the results together, according to The Thaiger.

Ticket number 173770 came up as the first-prize winner.

Waew congratulated Sayan and suggested leaving the tickets at her house temporarily for safekeeping until they could be claimed.

Attitude changed overnight

When Sayan returned the following day to collect her tickets, Waew's story had changed completely.

She insisted none of the tickets had won, saying one number had missed by just a digit, and that she had already thrown them all out, per The Thaiger.

Unconvinced, Sayan rummaged through the rubbish bin outside the couple's home as Waew had confirmed the winning number herself just the day before.

She found two of her non-winning tickets discarded there.

The winning ticket, however, was nowhere to be found.

Sayan filed a police report at Sawankhalok Police Station, and officers summoned Waew and her husband Date for questioning.

The couple denied any involvement and allowed police to search their home.

Waew also told the police she had returned all three tickets after checking the results, per The Thaiger.

Husband confesses, says he burned the ticket

On Jun. 11, Date finally came clean.

He admitted to taking the winning ticket, telling police he had wanted the money.

He told officers he believed Sayan was a quiet person who would not push back or make trouble.

After the case gained public attention and pressure mounted, he burned the ticket to destroy the evidence and avoid arrest, according to Sin Chew Daily News.

Date claimed he had acted alone and that Waew had no knowledge of what he had done.

Waew, however, changed her statement once more, admitting she had kept the winning ticket after checking it, but said she was unaware of when her husband had taken it.

Will Sayan still be able to claim the prize?

According to Sin Chew, Sayan told media she felt a measure of relief after learning the truth, but was deeply disappointed that someone close to her had done this.

Her bigger worry now is whether she can still claim the 6 million baht without the original ticket.

Neither the police nor the Government Lottery Office have confirmed whether the prize can be claimed in the absence of the original ticket, or if any replacement or compensation process exists.

The legal liability facing the couple also remains unclear.