Kong Salak Plus chief hit with ticket overpricing rap
The operator of Kong Salak Plus, an online platform that sells government lottery tickets, yesterday acknowledged charges pressed against him for allegedly inflating ticket prices and violating the law on direct sales.
Panthawat Nakwisut, CEO of Kong Salak Plus, yesterday met investigators at the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) after being summoned to answer charges pressed against him in this case.
He at first appeared startled upon seeing a group of cameramen and journalists waiting at the headquarters of the CPPD in Chatuchak district of Bangkok yesterday.
He then managed to flash them a V-sign before asking his lawyer to tell them that they were not allowed to take pictures of him.
CPPD commissioner, Pol Maj Gen Anan Nanasombat, said the operator of Kong Salak Plus was found to have breached the 2002 law on direct selling by reselling government lottery tickets online at inflated prices.
The company’s executives, namely Mr Panthawat and Mr Chatupha Bunsuwan, the authorised director of the company, have also been summoned to answer charges of colluding to conduct direct selling without registration and selling lottery tickets at prices higher than the proper rate of 80 baht per ticket, said Pol Maj Gen Anan.
For violating the direct selling law, these suspects could be sentenced to 1 year in prison and/or ordered to pay a fine of at most 100,000 baht, while the punishment for selling overpriced lottery tickets is a maximum fine of 30,000 baht.
Mr Panthawat admitted to reselling government lottery tickets at an inflated price but denied a charge of violating the direct selling law, police said.
He later took to social media, insisting he was innocent and that he intended to fight the case in court.
Aside from Kong Salak Plus, three other online lottery sales platforms also face legal action over similar business practices, said the police.
The other three are Hong Thong Lottery, Lottery 80 and Red Tiger Lottery.
The action against Kong Salak Plus follows Mr Panthawat announcing unusually high sales figures on Facebook for last year, which amounted to 18 billion baht, according to news reports.