TV Show Seeks Lottery Luck at Sacred Temple
TV host Golf Benjaphon visited a sacred Bangkok temple to draw lottery numbers from a 500-year-old wooden Buddha statue, where devotees believe the temple's revered images can predict winning combinations and break curses.
A talk show featuring host Golf Benjaphon aired around lottery draw number 16 on August 16, 2026 at Nakhon Prathom Temple on the Chao Phraya riverbank in Bangkok. During the broadcast, the host visited a 500-year-old wooden Buddha statue carved from a single teak tree to draw lottery numbers. Visitors leave numerous offerings at the sacred site, including pearls, traditional cloths, shoes, cosmetics, and nail polish, along with sacred chants believed to carry the statue's power. The host explained that tree spirits guard the wooden Buddha, noting that anyone reborn as a tree would need to accumulate merit through monasticism or sacred carving to eventually achieve rebirth elsewhere. The site also houses three Buddha images: the Naga Buddha, Upakut, and Sivali.
After chanting and requesting good fortune for show viewers, the host attempted to draw a ping-pong ball with no number visible, remarking with surprise at the blank result. Golf then drew a ball showing what appeared to be the number 8 (or zero) and 6, while the host's Siam See lottery draw produced a number resembling 59 or another digit depending on one's perspective.
The group also paid respects to Luang Pho Tot, a highly revered Buddha statue at the temple. According to legend, Luang Pho Tot's lottery predictions were so accurate that local bookmakers went broke, leading them to hire someone to sneak into the temple and drive nails into the statue as a curse. Traces of these nail holes remain visible on the statue's knees, though some have been covered with gold leaf. Devotees believe that visiting and making offerings to Luang Pho Tot, combined with transferring merit to the statue, can break any curse or harmful magic that binds them.
