Lucky Pem, a digital lottery initiative, revealed its winners in conjunction with the 118th National Day celebrations, awarding its most sought-after prizes to three participants. The top winner received Nu 15 million, followed by Nu 10 million for second place and Nu 5 million for the third prize.
Bhutanese citizens took part in the online draw by purchasing lottery tickets priced at Nu 1,000 through the Digital Kidu (DK) Bank platform and the My Bhutan App. After a 10-day promotional period leading up to National Day, ticket sales officially closed on the final day. Participants were grouped into two pools—Pool A and Pool B—with Pool A recording the highest turnout of 50,000 entries, compared to 3,119 in Pool B. All three major prize winners emerged from Pool A.
The second prize winner, 55-year-old Tshering Phuntsho from Chumey, Bumthang, drew particular attention for his heartfelt response during the live announcement. He shared that he has long been involved in helping individuals facing financial hardship and plans to continue doing so using his Nu 10 million winnings. A shopkeeper and father of four, Tshering acknowledged that his business has faced ups and downs, yet he has consistently supported disadvantaged students, especially those studying near his shop. He recalled raising Nu 85,000 with help from relatives to assist three young girls in need and mentioned that even on the day of his win, he continued distributing clothes and shoes to those lacking basic necessities.
Tshering believes that his good deeds may have played a role in his fortune and sees the prize money as an opportunity to extend his support further, including helping children from broken families and sponsoring elderly citizens on pilgrimages. Despite his generosity, he prefers to keep his charitable acts private and credits his relatives for supporting his efforts.
The first prize winner, 33-year-old Tshering Yangzom, and the third prize winner, 43-year-old Yeshey Rangdrel, both from Lhuentse, shared that they were still processing their unexpected wins. Tshering Yangzom, a mother of one, said the Nu 15 million prize left her overwhelmed, as she had not anticipated winning. Yeshey Rangdrel, who described his financial situation as modest, said he initially doubted the announcement due to an earlier error but later confirmed his win. Both winners expressed gratitude to Kenchosum and said their first step would be to make offerings at temples and monasteries.
Lucky Pem is notable as one of Bhutan’s first fully digital lotteries, with the entire collection distributed among winners and exempt from taxation.