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The ''Royal Thai Government Gazette'' (, ), frequently abbreviated to ''Government Gazette'' (GG) or ''Royal Gazette'' (RG), is the public journal and
newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the ...
of Thailand. Laws passed by the government generally
come into force In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of ...
after publication in the GG. The Royal Thai Government Gazette was the first Thai-language newspaper to appear in the kingdom and is also one of the earliest newspapers in Asia that is still in publication. The Cabinet Secretariat, a department in the Office of the Prime Minister, is charged with printing the GG.


History

The GG was first issued on 15 March 1858 by King Rama IV to inform government officials and the general public of news about the country. King Rama III had previously had 9,000 copies printed of a ''Decree Forbidding Opium Smoking and Sale'' in 1839. Previously, royal
scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promin ...
had been compiling
decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used ...
s by hand. Because of the many difficulties that this entailed, King Rama IV accordingly had a
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
set up inside the
Grand Palace The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ba ...
to publish the GG with government proclamations and regulations for officials and the public. It is likely that most of the announcements that appeared in the GG at the time were penned by King Rama IV himself. Publication ceased 18 months later as the king had no time to edit it, so announcements were printed and distributed separately. In May 1874, King
Rama V Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...
restarted the ''Government Gazette'' as a weekly, giving it serial number one. It was discontinued again in 1879 before reappearing for the Bangkok Centennial celebrations in 1882 as ''Government Gazette Special''. In 1884 the GG restarted and has been printed ever since. It was modified somewhat in 1889, bringing it closer to Western standards, such as the ''
London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
''. It included general announcements by the government, royal commands, acts of legislation, ministerial regulations, news of royal visits, royal ceremonies, religious items, announcements of royal decorations and ranks, royal obituaries, and the price of unhusked rice. The subscription price was eight
baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; sign: ฿; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-m ...
per year, if picked up from the printing house, or ten baht if delivered to the subscriber's home.


References


External links

* {{in lang, th Thai, Government Gazette Newspapers published in Thailand Law of Thailand Government of Thailand Publications established in 1858