A LOTTERY winner who hit a jackpot of over $1.6 million killed himself after losing his lucky tickets.

Jirawut Pongphan invited friends and family to his house for a drink to celebrate, only to wake up the next day and find his tickets gone, leaving him unable to claim his $1,686,000 winnings, reports The Sun.

The 42-year-old, from the Province of Chonburi, eastern Thailand, had seven tickets with the winning numbers and thought he would be rich beyond his wildest dreams but his excitement was short lived.

After almost becoming an overnight millionaire, Mr Pongphan could not live with the sense of what he could have won.

He killed himself on January 31, leaving a suicide note saying: “I’m really sorry, please don’t bully my family, I did win the lottery prize.”

Mr Pongphan bought seven tickets with the same numbers in the hope of maximising his winnings.

He won the grand prize of 42,000,000 BHT ($1,686,750) in November last year.

But his excitement lasted for less than a day after his winning tickets mysteriously vanished.

Mr Pongphan fell into a deep depression, his combination of stress and sadness leaving him unable to go to work.

Thai police found Mr Pongphan’s body in his bedroom with his suicide note lying next to him.

It is not known what happened to Mr Pongphan’s winning tickets and if anyone else came forward to claim the lottery winnings.

It is unclear if police are investigating whether or not the tickets were stolen.