This is a very popular game of chance and it can be found at many roadside eateries and mom-and-pop convenience stores. Many of them have it as it is a lucrative source of side income.
The game consists of two boards - one has rows of little folded pieces of paper, each bearing a number, stapled to it while the other holds the prizes that you can win, again each bearing a number.
Every three baht (about SGD 0.13) entitles you to a try. You tear a piece of paper from the first board to reveal the number within (you can buy as many chances as you like). If the number matches any of the prizes on the other board, you win that prize. If it does not, you get nothing. Prizes range from soft drinks, beer, liquor, and cash in various denominations of up to 1000 baht (about SGD 400). If you do not like the non-cash items, you can sell them back to the shop for a lower than market price.
Winning a prize is not easy. The odds are already low to begin with and when the pieces of paper left on the board get too few (and the chances of winning get higher), the operator will replace the board with a new one and the odds of winning become low again. However, I have ever won a bottle of scotch whisky within 10 tries but soon regretted it as it tasted funny and left me with a bad headache and hangover the next day (I suspect the liquor was fake). Theoretically, it is possible to win all of the prizes left by buying up all of the remaining pieces of paper left on the board but I have never tried this.
This is a highly addictive game for many people. They will keep going back, hoping to win the big prizes, as the pieces of paper left get fewer and fewer. Singapore used to have this game back in the 80’s and before, known as ‘Tikam-Tikam’, but it was later banned, probably because of its addictive nature.
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