Liverpool Lotto

More government lunacy. We've posted before about the Thai PM's plan to purchase an ownership stake in Liverpool Football Club. Things are only getting more bizarre. The initial impression had been that the PM would buy the stake a la Berlusconi i.e. from his own personal wealth. But over the last fortnight, the noises have gotten louder that the stake will come from public money. About $100m is at stake. Now this is really odd. Thailand is in many ways an impressively stable place, but it's still a poor country. How exactly is poverty in Thailand reduced by taxpayers spending $100m on a foreign football club? And of course, as a public investment, some government officials will have to travel to Anfield on a frequent basis to inspect this investment, right? Part of the appeal of English football to Thais is the multitude of gambling opportunities that it provides. Even that instinct is catered for in how the deal is structured:

[Wall Street Journal] Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday approved plans to establish a new state lottery, the proceeds of which will be used to buy the Liverpool stake. Mr. Thaksin [PM], a billionaire telecommunications tycoon, earlier estimated the stake would cost around 4.6 billion baht ($110 million)..."All the funds will be raised by the lottery and we expect to raise about 10 billion baht," said Santiphab Tejavanija, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, estimating that it will take about three months to raise the money. Buyers of the lottery tickets, which will cost 1,000 baht each, will receive a 200 baht share in Liverpool and also have a chance to win a one billion baht jackpot, he said.

The lottery angle seems like a wheeze to simultaneously create yet another wager while getting around a Dubya Senior-style No New Taxes pledge. And as the Journal politely puts it:

Mr. Thaksin has recently said Thailand's association with Liverpool will create economic opportunities for Thai entrepreneurs and help burnish the country's image as an attractive destination for foreign investment. But he hasn't elaborated on exactly how that might play out.