Elephant statue starts religious lottery fever

Thais are flocking to a 160ft high elephant statue near Bangkok for lucky lottery numbers.

They believe that buying lottery tickets there will guarantee hitting the jackpot.

The elephant represents the Hindu God Indra and is revered by Thais.

But the owners of the museum where the statue stands say it is there only to attract people to the museum.

"The elephant was my father's idea. He wanted to build an antiques museum and he thought he could put it under an elephant's stomach" said Pakpian Viriyapan, the museum owner.

Then worshippers began to arrive at the site from everywhere.

"Many would bring truckloads of sugarcane and bananas as offerings to the Erawan elephant and to pay their respects. It was just too much," said Pakipan