Thai hospitality magnate calls on govt to allow vaccinated foreigners entry into Thailand -Thai Visa



Posted 4 hours ago

Thai hospitality magnate calls on govt to allow vaccinated foreigners entry into Thailand

 

William Heinecke. Reuters file photo

 

A leading figure in the Thai hospitality industry has called on the government to speed up its roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

William Heinecke, the head of Minor Group, one of Thailand's largest hotel chains has issued an open letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha specifying a series of recommendations that he says are needed to kick start the country economy and Thailand's decimated tourism industry.

 

In his letter, the American-born Thai businessman puts forward four recommendations which include allowing hotel staff to be among the first to receive the vaccine, expediting the rollout  of the vaccine, quarantine free travel for vaccinated travellers, and so called 'vaccine passports' to allow international travellers to enter Thailand without restrictions.

 

Mr Heinecke says the Thai government should make sure hotel staff and those working in the hospitality industry should be included in the first phase of the vaccine rollout. "Such people continue to operate on the front lines, interacting with international and domestic travelers, risking contraction and further transmission," Mr Heinecke says.

 

"Prioritizing them along with healthcare workers and other high-risk groups for the vaccine would provide a necessary layer of protection for the country".

 

Mr Heinecke says that Thailand should "consider more vaccine options as a matter of urgency" and adds "our current timeline is still not fast enough in procuring sufficient shots and inoculating the whole population".

 

He goes on to call for those vaccinated against the virus to be exempted from the current mandatory 14 day quarantine and says that so-called 'vaccine passports' should be used as a way to enable foreigners to visit the country without restrictions.

 

He cites the Seychelles as an example, which he says is already allowing vaccinated foreigners to enter the country.

 

He suggests that Phuket could be used as a pilot model to test the return of  international travellers who have been vaccinated. If successfully implemented, the model should then be rolled out to other key destinations such Koh Samui and Pattaya.

 

You can read Mr Heinecke's letter in full below: