¡¡¡¡BANGKOK, June 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Post offices around Thailand have run out of postcards due to high demand as a result of contests to predict this year's World Cup champion, local media reported Friday.

¡¡¡¡Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) Deputy Governor Wuthipong Moleechat said the overall 140 million postcards in stock, printed ahead of the expected rise in demand, will not be sufficient.

¡¡¡¡Starting early this week, the CAT is working to full capacity to print another 8 million postcards, but the new supply is also unlikely to meet the high demand.

¡¡¡¡Many Thai newspapers have offered prizes worth millions of baht,including cash, cars and other valuables, to those who correctly predict the winner of this Sunday's final between Brazil and Germany.

¡¡¡¡Prize winners will be decided from lucky draws and the deadlinefor sending postcards to newspapers is Saturday.

¡¡¡¡Long queues formed at post offices in Bangkok where postcards were still available for sale Thursday.

¡¡¡¡Bangkok's Central Post Office has recorded 2.6 million postcardsales since the beginning of June, and is expected to reach 5 million before the mailing deadline Saturday.

¡¡¡¡Some 150 million postcards will be sold overall during this year's World Cup fever in Thailand, far higher than the 68 millionrecorded during the Euro 2000 tournament. Enditem

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