The government will this year stop printing the royal gazette for sale to the public and begin publishing new editions online, an official said yesterday.

Spokesman for the Council of Ministers Phay Siphan said the costs of printing the gazette, which promulgates decisions of the government such as royal and subdecrees, had prompted the decision to go digital with editions starting from 2017.

Siphan said a new, dedicated website would be launched soon, though said he was unaware of exactly when it would come online. “We expect it to be ready next month,” he said.

He said the service would be free and the gazette searchable. He said some printed copies would be retained by the government for internal use.

Kenthy Virak Yuth, deputy director of the Department of Royal Decree and Computer Services at the Council of Ministers, said the body had difficulties reclaiming the costs of producing the book from ministries.

She said the Ministry of Economy and Finance had informed the department of the change earlier this month.

The gazette is one of only a few accessible channels of information on government decisions – ranging from the issuance of land titles and economic land concessions, to the promotion of soldiers in the military – from a regime long criticised for a lack of transparency.

The Post last week revealed the promotion of soldiers from the Prime Minister’s Bodyguard Unit who were convicted of attacking two opposition lawmakers based upon documents from the gazette.