Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Thai game show) explained

Native Name:
Genre:Quiz show
Runtime:30 min (2000-2008)
Creator:Born & Associated Co. Ltd.
Based On:Original format created and licensed by Sony Pictures Television Studios
Presenter:Traiphop Limpapath
Country:Thailand
Network:Channel 3 (2000-2004)
iTV/TITV (2004-2008)

Keam Sreasthi (English: The Millionaire Game) was a Thai game show based on the original British format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The main goal of the game was to win 1 million baht by answering 15 multiple-choice questions correctly (earlier 16 or 12 questions). There were three lifelines, all other than in the original version - Double Dip (contestant can choose the answer two times), Help of Audience Members (help of two members of the audience who believe that they know the correct answer) and Switch The Question (contestant can change the question). Earlier the lifelines were: Fifty Fifty, Ask the friend ask the host and Ask The Audience.

Money tree

Question numberQuestion value (Yellow zones are the guaranteed levels)
12-question format
1฿15,000
2฿20,000
3฿25,000
4฿30,000
5฿35,000
6฿40,000
7฿45,000
8฿50,000
9฿100,000
10฿250,000
11฿500,000
12

Previously, the money tree consisted of the following prizes:

Question numberQuestion value (Yellow zones are the guaranteed levels)
First versionSecond version Third version
1฿1,000฿5,000฿5,000
2฿2,000฿6,000฿10,000
3฿3,000฿7,000฿15,000
4฿4,000฿8,000฿20,000
5฿5,000฿9,000฿25,000
6฿10,000฿30,000
7฿20,000฿35,000
8฿30,000฿40,000
9฿40,000฿45,000
10฿50,000฿50,000
11฿100,000฿100,000
12฿200,000฿200,000
13฿300,000฿300,000
14฿400,000฿400,000
15฿500,000฿500,000
16

Top prize winners

Siksaka Bunluerith is the first and only Thai contestant to legitimately win the top prize of 1 million baht by answering all 16 questions in October 2000.

The Lertlak Panchanawaporn affair

In 2002, Lertlak Panchanawaporn, a 44-year-old street vendor won the grand prize on the show. The show's producers were impressed with her, since she had only a fourth-grade education. Finally, the truth came to light: a computer error led to the player being fed all the right answers. The cable feeding the player the answers on the computer screen was supposed to be hooked up to the presenter's computer. She had noticed that the right answers were constantly highlighted on her computer screen and won the million by this way. The show's producers took the million away from her. Later, she was allowed to play again and she won 25,000 baht in her second play-through. Articles about it were written in many TV stations, newspapers and websites (e.g. BBC and Deutsche Welle). There was also a chapter about it in the book Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad by Rick Broadhead.[1] [2]

References

  1. Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser: And Over 100 Other Embarrassing and Funny Stories of Technology Gone Mad, Rick Broadhead, pages 136-137, chapter Rags to Riches
  2. News: 2002-03-22. 'Millionaire' TV game show gaffe. en-GB. BBC News. 2021-06-09.