Jane Chantakui, a 42-year-old construction contractor from Phimai, has bought a gold necklace for a friendly two-tailed gecko he found by chance and brought home less than two weeks ago, believing it would bring him luck.
On May 20, while working at a customer’s house, Mr. Jane spotted the unusual gecko on a concrete mixing tub. Startled by its two tails, he saw the incident as a good omen. He took the animal to the homeowner, who allowed him to bring it home as a pet.
“At that time I believed there was something auspicious about meeting this gecko and felt that it might bring good luck and fortune to my family. So I decided to take it home and raise it for good luck,” Mr. Jane said.
On Saturday, June 1, when the lottery results were announced, Mr. Jane won 28,000 baht from the government lottery’s final two-digit prize. The winning number was 42. He had bought 14 lottery tickets, each winning 2,000 baht.
Last year, a study by a statistics expert at Thammasat University showed that the likelihood of winning 2,000 baht from the final two-digit prize is only 1 in 100. This means one would have to buy a lottery ticket 100 times consecutively – which amounts to around four years and two months – just to win the two-digit prize.
Crediting the two-tailed gecko for his lottery win, Mr. Jane went to a gold shop and purchased a small necklace weighing 25-satang of gold, worth about 5,100 baht, as a gift for his “lucky pet.”
“I bought 42 because it’s my age. Winning the lottery made me really think that the gecko brought me luck. I will look after it as best as I can and hope it gives me luck again in the next lottery announcement on June 16,” the contractor said.
(Photos: Prasit Tangprasert)Bangkok Post
