Major tourism operator calls on government to restart Test & Go

The board chairman of Minor International has called on the Thai government to reinstate the suspended Test & Go entry scheme. Failing that, William Heinecke says they should expand the number of sandbox destinations, according to a Bangkok Post report. Minor International is based in Bangkok and its businesses include Minor Hotels, which operates 530 properties, including the Anantara, Four Seasons, and Radisson Blu brands.

In an open letter to PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, Mr Heinecke says the government needs to acknowledge that the Omicron variant causes milder illness than previous variants and therefore it needs to be handled differently. He says instead of shutting the country to foreign tourists, the government must focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated and rolling out booster doses.

The Bangkok Post reports that Heinecke wants to see the Thai government welcome tourists in the…