Buddhist monk gives away entire $502,000 lottery jackpot

Nov 28, 2022, 11:38 am (12 comments)

International

One lottery winner demonstrates generosity at its finest — all the way down to the ticket purchase

By Kate Northrop

A town in Thailand won big when a Buddhist monk hit the lottery and donated the entire prize to those he felt were "more deserving" of the money.

What started out as a kind gesture turned into an even grander act of generosity when a Buddhist monk won 18 million baht (US$502,597) in the lottery and gave it all away.

In February 2022, the anonymous man bought three lottery tickets in the province of Nakhon Phanom to support a local lottery salesman, who had been struggling financially during and after the pandemic.

The Thai Lotto drawing on March 1, 2022 produced a winner of 18 million baht, about half a million U.S. dollars, and the winner was none other than the kind-hearted monk who had only been trying to carry out a good deed.

Most lottery winners would put the money toward bills, a car payment, a new house, or even a vacation, but the nameless man immediately set out to accomplish some charitable goals.

First, he made an undisclosed donation to his temple. Next, he gave a portion of the prize to local schools in nearby provinces that would pay for supplies and other means of support for students.

The monk then decided to hand out an equal amount of cash to each person in his town in need of money. At first, he aimed to give $15 per person, but when word spread around town, more people lined up for a handout than he originally accounted for. He had to cut back the donation to $6 per person to give everyone a fair share of the lottery winnings.

With more people showing up than expected, authorities were called to the scene for crowd control and to enforce social distancing.

In just the first week of March, the monk had given away $40,000 to those he deemed "more deserving" of the prize, saying that he himself was not deserving of the money. Donating the money felt more moving than winning the prize. In fact, he explained, he did not feel entitled to the money at all, rather it belonged to the "angels."

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Pick3master3838's avatarPick3master3838

I wasn't aware that monks were allowed to play the lottery.

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by Pick3master3838 on Nov 28, 2022

I wasn't aware that monks were allowed to play the lottery.

* I was thinking the same thing, these guys can't even have a girlfriend. I had heard that they do not fight as well " unless death is on the line." Good thing he remained anonymous, or else he could have faced disciplinary actions from the Buddhist governing board.🤔 On 2nd thought, they could have told him to give it away.. or else he would be " defrocked."

sully16's avatarsully16

The Lord works in mysterious ways, he helped many.

EnReval

So gambling ain't bad after all

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by EnReval on Nov 28, 2022

So gambling ain't bad after all

💯🎯

tvboris's avatartvboris

Ok. He bought a ticket, won, and then gave away the price. I can imagine that. 

 

But what I really want to know, go how long that monk had been playing the lottery before he won. 

 

I'd be more puzzled if I read in the story that this monk was playing for 10 years, and once he won, he gave it away. 

 

Although possible, but it is unlikely that he won with the first ticket.

Tony Numbers's avatarTony Numbers

I think I'm going to become a monk

Goteki54's avatarGoteki54

Great story!

Bleudog101

Can vaguely remember going to a Monk Monastery in Nelson County, KY while stationed @ Ft. Knox.

Just pulled up their website.   They are Trappists Monks part of the Catholic religion.  Very restrictive lifestyle IMHO but to each their own.

 

For my own curiosity just called MUSL in Iowa.  Told the very nice lady that since the huge jackpot was won on Powerball, the Total Winners section of their website disappeared.   Meagan informed me they're working on the website and should be fixed in the next few weeks.  Curious George likes to know the total winners!

noise-gate

* Gee, this monk won more than the 2nd prize payout for a Californian in last night's PB drawing. Money is money, but that's downright obscene. 🤬

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by noise-gate on Nov 29, 2022

* Gee, this monk won more than the 2nd prize payout for a Californian in last night's PB drawing. Money is money, but that's downright obscene. 🤬

Good old parimutuel to the rescue.   Sometimes it pays out more than Powerplay and or Megaplier but certainly not this time!

noise-gate

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Nov 29, 2022

Good old parimutuel to the rescue.   Sometimes it pays out more than Powerplay and or Megaplier but certainly not this time!

* l agree Jeff, but our fantasy 5 games at times close in on $1 mil.

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