Lawyer Tum is back, taking aim at a lottery quota system for disabled Thais. Sittra Biebangkerd says politicians and influencers cashed in while over ฿200m flowed yearly. He now wants the DSI to revive its stalled probe and trace exactly who got the money.
Lawyer Tum has returned with a hard-charging campaign over lottery quotas reserved for disabled Thais. Sittra Biebangkerd says politicians, influential figures and online personalities have profited from allocations meant to provide disabled people with livelihoods. Blind representatives claim more than ฿20 million moved through connected accounts each month, exceeding ฿200 million annually. They also say genuine disabled athletes received little or nothing while organisations secured thousands of lottery books. Sittra now wants the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to revive the stalled case, trace the money and identify the beneficiaries. Separately, he is targeting foundation donations, bulletproof vest purchases and nominee companies in a possible money-laundering complaint.
One of Thailand’s best-known lawyers has returned with a new campaign over lottery quotas intended for disabled Thais. Sittra Biebangkerd, widely known as Lawyer Tum, says powerful outsiders have benefited from those allocations. He points to politicians, influential figures and prominent online personalities. At the same time, disabled representatives claim more than ฿200 million moves through related accounts each year.
Sittra now wants the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to revive an earlier complaint. He says the case went quiet while he was imprisoned. In response, he plans to demand a written update from investigators. He also wants the money trail examined again.
The lawyer appeared at the Association of the Blind in Thailand at 10 am on Saturday, September 5. His arrival immediately drew attention. Sittra travelled in a black pickup truck with five bodyguards. He wore a black vest marked “SWAT”, protective knee and elbow gear, and a fake moustache.
Lawyer Tum turns lottery quota fight public as blind and disabled Thais seek access to allocations
As the vehicle stopped, bodyguards held an umbrella over him. Reporters were already waiting outside. Before speaking, however, Sittra asked them to hold their cameras. “Please don’t film yet. Let me do a live stream first. We’ll help with the case later,” he said. He then complained about the heat and requested tissues.
Throughout the interview, Sittra repeatedly wiped his face. Even so, the unusual entrance quickly gave way to detailed accusations. Sittra said he came to support blind people and other disabled Thais seeking lottery allocations. Advisers linked to blind athletes accompanied him. Several visually impaired people also gathered at the association.
Earlier, Sittra had intended to assist the group quietly. He had visited the Ministry of Interior the previous day. Subsequently, he learned that reporters wanted to examine the lottery quota issue. He therefore decided to make Saturday’s visit public. During his live broadcast, he also asked viewers to send him heart emojis.
The central dispute concerns government lottery quotas allocated to disabled people. Those quotas provide recipients with income through ticket sales. Sittra said many disabled people face restricted employment opportunities. Yet he claims well-connected outsiders are profiting from allocations created for them.
Sittra seeks DSI revival as claims point to politicians and influencers profiting from disabled quotas
According to Sittra, influential people have taken quotas intended for blind and disabled citizens. Consequently, those outsiders can profit from a state-backed benefit meant for disadvantaged groups. He also questioned who ultimately receives the monthly payments generated by those allocations.
The complaint is not new. Sittra previously brought the matter to the DSI before entering prison. However, he said he stopped following the case while incarcerated. As a result, the investigation lost momentum and public attention faded.
Now, Sittra wants it reopened. With media scrutiny returning, he expects a formal response from investigators. More importantly, he wants officials to establish who received the financial benefits.
Sittra described the lottery quota business as highly profitable. However, he said the ultimate recipients of the money remain unclear. Representatives of disabled groups have made more specific claims. They say politicians, influential figures and online personalities have benefited.
“As the representatives for people with disabilities have said, it ends up with politicians or influencers—no need to name names,” Sittra said. “This person got rich from lottery tickets for people with disabilities.”
Lawyer Tum demands lottery money back as he returns to campaigning after one year and seven months
He then demanded that the money be returned to its intended beneficiaries. “That’s why I’m calling for the money to be returned to the people with disabilities,” he said. “Don’t take it away from them. You yourselves have immense wealth.”
Notably, Sittra’s renewed campaign follows his own long absence from public life. He spent one year and seven months in prison before securing bail in June. He is appealing his conviction in a ฿71 million fraud and money-laundering case.
His return has therefore attracted questions about his motives. Some critics have suggested he is seeking renewed public attention. Sittra addressed that criticism directly during Saturday’s appearance.
He accepted that some people could view his activities that way. “I want to ask my fans, do you want me to continue or not? Does that sound familiar?” he said. Still, he said he did not want prolonged arguments.
Instead, Sittra said he wanted to concentrate on helping people. He also rejected claims that disabled people were being used for publicity. Crucially, he said his involvement with the lottery dispute predated his imprisonment.
Former national athlete says genuine disabled competitors lost lottery quotas to influential figures
Former Thai national disabled athlete Supachai Songpinit backed that account. He thanked Sittra and the media for returning attention to the case. According to Supachai, Sittra was the first prominent figure to bring the dispute into public view.
Supachai said he had suffered directly from the quota arrangements. He described himself as a genuine disabled athlete and a member of a blind association. That association receives government lottery quotas. Yet he said genuine athletes had received none of them.
Instead, Supachai claimed allocations went to influential figures, politicians and prominent online personalities. Therefore, disabled athletes lost access to an important source of income. He said he wanted a profession and the ability to support himself.
However, he said his rights under the quota system had effectively disappeared. He also said documentary evidence already existed. That material had been submitted to the DSI and Ministry of Justice.
Additionally, Supachai said some members of the media had already seen concrete evidence. Despite that, years of follow-up had produced little progress. He said the group would nevertheless continue pursuing the case.
Blind association adviser says official lottery records show thousands of books but athletes got none
Somchai Panyaekawong, an adviser to the Association of the Blind of Thailand, then gave further details. He said Sittra first visited the association two years earlier. At that stage, Sittra had already offered assistance.
As part of the earlier campaign, a letter was submitted to the Ministry of Justice. The matter later reached the DSI. Somchai said investigators subsequently examined the complaint.
Separately, letters were sent to the Sports Authority of Thailand and the Government Lottery Office. However, Somchai said the case later stalled. He insisted that important evidence had already been secured.
Crucially, Somchai said some records came directly from the Government Lottery Office. Those records showed lottery allocations to different associations, he said. Some organisations received thousands of lottery books.
Yet the disabled athletes supposedly represented by those organisations received none, according to Somchai. “We have fought for this all along, but we haven’t received justice,” he said.
He also said the names appeared in documents issued by the lottery office. Furthermore, he claimed organisations receiving quotas were linked to politicians. “The lottery is like a lifeline for influential politicians and powerful figures,” Somchai said.
Somchai claims disabled nominees were used as an MP benefited and more than ฿20 million moved monthly
He said the practice had continued for a long period. On another front, he questioned why certain public bodies received disability-related lottery quotas. He specifically cited a provincial hall.
Somchai also referred to four associations in Khon Kaen. He claimed those groups received quotas while using disabled people as nominees. The claims have not been established by a court.
His strongest accusations concerned what happened after quotas were allocated. Somchai said the DSI confirmed the Thailand Blind Sports Association had received lottery tickets. However, he claimed those tickets were not distributed to disabled athletes.
Instead, Somchai alleged that an MP benefited through sighted nominees. The politician was not named during Saturday’s presentation. Likewise, no supporting court finding was cited.
More significantly, Somchai described large financial flows linked to lottery sales and political contacts. He claimed more than ฿20 million passed through relevant accounts each month. On that basis, the annual flow exceeded ฿200 million.
Disabled representatives press DSI to trace quota money as Sittra raises separate foundation questions
Somchai said the group possessed evidence supporting those figures. He then contrasted the sums with allocations received by ordinary blind people. “I am very frustrated by the injustice. Delayed justice is injustice,” he said.
“For us, blind people, we only received one or two lottery tickets each,” Somchai added. “But they took 10,000, they took 1,000.”
Those figures now sit at the centre of Sittra’s renewed push. He wants the DSI to explain what happened to the earlier investigation. In particular, he wants investigators to trace payments beyond the associations receiving the quotas.
The disabled representatives also want scrutiny of the nominee arrangements they described. They say the formal recipients do not always match the ultimate beneficiaries. Accordingly, the financial trail could be central to any renewed inquiry.
Meanwhile, Sittra used the same press conference to raise a separate dispute involving a large foundation. That issue concerns donated money and purchases of bulletproof vests. Sittra challenged the foundation’s response to questions over spending.
The other side had said budgets were submitted for auditing. Sittra said that response did not resolve how specific donations were used. He also said people posting questions or comments had been blocked online.
Sittra questions bulletproof vest prices and claims nominee firms received contracts from a foundation
He then presented material concerning Level 4 bulletproof vest prices. According to Sittra, the foundation previously claimed equipment was bought for ฿6,000. The stated full price had been ฿20,000, he said.
However, Sittra disputed what the ฿6,000 figure covered. He claimed the amount applied only to the front protective plate. By contrast, he said a complete front-and-back Level 4 vest retailed for ฿6,990.
Sittra therefore questioned the figures surrounding equipment bought with donations. Beyond that, he said informants had supplied information concerning suspected nominee companies.
According to Sittra, associates allegedly established companies which later received foundation contracts. He claimed differences between costs and payments could then be taken from donated money. However, he acknowledged that more evidence was needed.
At present, Sittra wants to speak with two additional sources. If they cooperate, he believes further documentation can be gathered. He said that material could support a money-laundering complaint to the DSI.
Lawyer Tum prepares possible DSI money-laundering complaint while reviving disabled lottery quota case
He added that such a complaint could be filed as early as next week. Even so, the foundation dispute remains separate from the disabled lottery quota investigation.
For now, Sittra’s main campaign remains focused on lottery allocations. The disabled representatives beside him made detailed claims about how those quotas were distributed. They say genuine athletes lost out despite their organisations receiving substantial allocations.
In parallel, they allege politicians and influential figures ultimately benefited from those tickets. They also claim disabled people were used as nominees. Somchai places the related financial flow above ฿20 million monthly.
The group says it has already approached several government bodies. These include the Ministry of Justice, DSI, Sports Authority of Thailand and Government Lottery Office. Furthermore, Somchai says some supporting documents came directly from the lottery office.
Even after those submissions, the representatives say the case made little progress. Sittra now intends to force it back onto the DSI’s agenda. He wants a formal account of what investigators previously established.
He also wants to know what happened after the complaint was filed. Above all, he wants the agency to identify who ultimately received the lottery proceeds.
Sittra vows to pursue DSI answers as unnamed politician and influencer remain central to quota claims
Neither Sittra nor the disabled representatives publicly named the politician they linked to the arrangements. Similarly, the prominent influencer referred to during the dispute was not formally identified.
Still, Sittra made clear that his campaign would continue. Before leaving, he returned to criticism that he was seeking attention. He then spoke about his children and his reasons for returning to public campaigning.
“I’m not here to seek attention, but I also have children,” Sittra said. His voice broke as he continued. “I want my children to one day see what I’ve done, that it’s beneficial, that it benefits people and the country.”
“One day, when my children grow up, they will see for themselves,” he added. “They will see that what their father did truly benefited the people we helped. That’s all.”
The press conference then ended. The fake moustache, SWAT vest, five bodyguards and umbrella had dominated Sittra’s arrival. By then, however, attention had shifted to documents, account flows and the stalled DSI case.
Disabled representatives allege huge lottery flows as Sittra returns to DSI seeking answers on quotas
Disabled representatives claim thousands of lottery books went elsewhere while genuine athletes received almost nothing. They also claim politically connected recipients benefited from quotas issued through organisations representing disabled people.
Somchai says more than ฿20 million moved through connected accounts each month. He puts the annual total above ฿200 million. Meanwhile, Sittra says the earlier investigation lost momentum during his imprisonment.
DSI looks at Lawyer Tum’s file alleging corruption in airport procurement linked to a former deputy PM
‘Lawyer Tum’ or Sittra Biebangkerd arrested by CSD police on a highway leaving Bangkok for fraud
Now he is out on bail and pursuing his appeal. At the same time, he has returned to the lottery quota case. His stated next move is another approach to the DSI.
There, Sittra intends to demand a written update. He also wants investigators to follow the money behind quotas issued in the name of disabled Thais.
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Further reading:
Raids on Lawyer Tum’s luxury home and high-profile legal office as he and his wife are imprisoned
Legal eagle in hot water as wealthy French-based Thai woman claims she gave him ฿71 million for deal
Big shock: Arrest warrant issued by court in Bangkok against Big Joke or General Surachate Hakparn
Bangkok police still targeting Big Joke over BNK Master website case. Arrest warrant considered
