For nearly a century, lottery tickets and their strings of lucky numbers have occupied a special role in Vietnamese society: both as a lifeline for dreams of better fortune and as a mirror reflecting the socio-economic realities of the times.
“Ma’am, sir, please buy a ticket to support me” — from bustling cities to quiet countryside, from narrow alleyways to modest market stalls, this simple plea has long been woven into the fabric of Vietnam’s street culture. It’s common to see workers savoring their morning coffee while carefully selecting a few lottery tickets, tucking them away as part of their daily ritual. Equally common is the sight of commuters crowding around lottery kiosks at dusk, eagerly awaiting the results to see if their luck has turned.
Photo via Tuổi Trẻ Thủ Đô.
While the odds of winning the lottery jackpot are slim, state-run lotteries maintain an irresistible allure for a significant portion of the population. Every day, ticket sales generate hundreds of billions of đồng for the national economy, outpacing even luxury industries. Perhaps this enduring appeal lies in the lottery’s promise of a level playing field — a game where “all are equal,” regardless of wealth or status. Coupled with the tantalizing hope of a life-changing windfall, this has inspired snappy phrases like, “No need for skill, just luck to fulfill” or “Hit the jackpot by five, rich for life by night.”
As the Lunar New Year approaches, I find myself holding a freshly bought lottery ticket, a small token of hope. It is with this sense of anticipation that I reflect on the history of the lottery in Vietnam and its decades-long, love-hate relationship with the Vietnamese people.
The history of the lottery in Vietnam
The concept of the modern lottery first emerged in Vietnam in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, schools and churches would seek permission from local authorities to issue small-scale lottery tickets to raise funds for their operations.
An advertisement for a lottery issued by the University of Indochina in local newspaper Hà thành Ngọ báo (1933). Photo via National Library of Vietnam.
For instance, during the renovation of the St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi, which involved replacing its walls with bricks, the Archbishop petitioned the French colonial government for approval to organize a lottery to fund the project. It took two rejections before the request was finally granted, allowing two lottery events to take place in 1883 and 1886, raising a total of around 30,000 French francs.
In 1902, during the Hanoi Exposition held at the Exhibition Palace, organizers experimented with a recreational lottery for the first time. This marked the beginning of a tradition, as lotteries became a regular feature in subsequent expositions, with proceeds directed toward social initiatives.
Indochina Lottery advertisement in Hanoi. Photo via France Indochine Facebook page.
By 1935, lotteries were formalized on a much larger scale with the establishment of Loterie Indochinoise (the Indochina Lottery), issued by the French colonial administration across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Hanoi, the capital of French Indochina, was designated as the central location for the lottery draws. Initially held only once a year, tickets were sold for 1 Indochina piastre, with the grand prize reaching as high as 10,000 piastres — a substantial sum at the time — alongside smaller consolation prizes for other winners.
Indochina Lottery tickets. Photos via France Indochine Facebook page.
Being a cross-border initiative, the lottery tickets featured multilingual text in French, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Khmer. The designs often included iconic architectural landmarks or cultural symbols from the colonies. As demand grew, the frequency of lottery draws increased to four times a year. However, the Indochina Lottery came to an end in 1944, a casualty of the political instability brought on by Japanese occupation during World War II.
Reverse Side of an Indochina Lottery ticket. Photo via Tuổi Trẻ Thủ Đô.
After 1945, Vietnam was divided into two regions, each with distinct political systems, yet the lottery remained a curious point of intersection. Despite differences in prize structures and organizational approaches, both North and South Vietnam used lotteries as tools to address their respective socio-economic needs. It was during this period that the concept of xổ số kiến thiết — lotteries designed to serve community benefits — was born.
Stamped letters promoting lottery purchases under Chief-of-State Bảo Đại. Photo via Society of Indo-China Philatelists.
In the South, lotteries re-emerged in 1951 under the reign of former emperor and then Chief-of-State Bảo Đại. Initially tailored for the elite, tickets were issued quarterly at a price of 10 đồng, with a grand prize of 1 million đồng. However, by the time of President Ngô Đình Diệm’s tenure, lotteries became more accessible, expanding their reach across various social strata.
Southern lottery during Ngô Đình Diệm’s era. Photos via chuyenxua.net.
To encourage participation, the southern government implemented creative strategies, from composing promotional songs to allowing lottery tickets to substitute for administrative fines. Weekly draws were grand events held at the Norodom Theater, complete with live music performances and appearances by popular singers.
‘National lottery song’ by Trần Văn Trạch.
Initially, the lottery faced stiff competition from underground betting games like số đề, which appealed to lower-income groups with minimal stakes of 1 or 2 đồng and quicker turnarounds.
However, the closure of major gambling hubs like the Kim Chung and Đại Thế Giới casinos in 1955 left lotteries as the sole outlet for those seeking fortune. This surge in demand led to speculation and black-market trading. Official tickets priced at 10 đồng were sold for as much as 13 đồng during shortages, such as in 1963. Meanwhile, Tombola lotteries — organized by schools, religious groups, and private entities — also gained popularity, offering practical prizes like bicycles, sewing machines, and household essentials.
Tombola lottery tickets. Photos via Lớp Học Vui Vẻ Facebook page.
In contrast to the South’s mix of entertainment and gambling, the North's lottery, launched in 1962, had a clear mission set by the central government: fund infrastructure development in the North and provide support for the southern battlefield. Tickets were priced at 2 hào, and top prizes included items like Simson motorcycles and Phượng Hoàng bicycles, practically “treasures” in the era of rationing.
Northern lottery ticket design influenced by the Soviet Union. Photo via Tiền Phong.
Northern lotteries operated under a centralized distribution model. Tickets were sold at authorized kiosks and directly allocated to government offices and factories for employees to purchase. Prize draws were conducted at the Đoàn Kết Club under the strict supervision of government officials.
A veteran recalled the lottery frenzy in Hanoi at the time: “People were picking up lottery tickets every afternoon. The drawing was held near the Hanoi Opera House. As for the jackpot, we never saw it — just losing tickets scattered across the sidewalk like tamarind leaves in the rain. We’d all scramble to collect them. Each day, we’d gather a few hundred. By the time the pile weighed a few kilos, Lunar New Year was already around the corner [...].” People became so obsessed with the lottery that even those who couldn’t afford a ticket would go out and pick up discarded ones, caught up in the fear of missing out long before the term became common.
The film Người Cầu May satirizes the lottery craze in the North at the time.
Despite its stringent implementation, the lottery system in the North also gave rise to negative consequences similar to those seen in the South. In a stagnant economy where goods were strictly rationed, the lottery stood out as one of the few forms of free consumption. This freedom led many to view it as a ticket out of poverty, inadvertently turning some into gamblers.
The film Người Cầu May satirizes this reality through the character Khiển, a retired official obsessed with winning the jackpot. The deeper he delves into the lottery, the more he loses, yet he cannot shake his fixation with the numbers. In one poignant scene, Khiển chases after a funeral procession, convinced that the right numbers are hidden there by divine intervention.
A marker of Vietnam's history
After reunification, Vietnam’s national lottery system merged into one, represented by three main entities for the North, Central, and South regions. Over time, this system evolved to align with the country’s shifting social and economic landscapes.
Take the 1980s, for instance, when the impact of trade embargoes made imported goods prohibitively expensive luxuries. To entice buyers, lottery organizers introduced “special privileges” for jackpot winners, allowing them to purchase imported items such as cassette TVs, refrigerators, and more at discounted rates. A highly coveted prize of the time was the Honda Super Cub 90, nicknamed the Honda Độc Đắc (Jackpot Honda), then valued at 10 gold bars — equivalent to a 24 m² apartment in post-subsidy-era Hanoi.
Lotteries with imported goods as prizes (1987). Photos via Báo Giao Thông.
It’s hard to imagine such a prize structure in today’s commercial landscape, where even the most premium motorcycles pale in comparison to the value of urban real estate. Modern lotteries now offer more frequent draws, cash-only prizes, and results easily accessible via smartphones — thus there's no need to sit by the radio or television anymore.
Yet, through all this change, one constant remains: the complex relationship between Vietnamese people and the lottery. Across generations, those small tickets have proven to be a double-edged sword. Stories abound of individuals squandering life savings on tickets, only to spiral into debt and ruin their families. Yet, those same tickets also carry enormous economic aspiration — hope for a brighter future, not just for the buyers but also for the sellers.
A special lottery ticket printed just days before Vietnam's reunification.
This draw was never held. Photo via Tuổi Trẻ.
But beyond its role in individual lives, the lottery has taken on a broader significance: an unassuming chronicler of Vietnam’s societal evolution. Each ticket captures the dreams, struggles, and transformations of a nation — folded discreetly into pockets, yet carrying the weight of history itself.
