In 1967, he founded Minor Holdings, which would grow into The Minor Group over the next four decades and come to encompass more than 30 companies. Heinecke entered his first hotel venture in 1978, the Royal Garden Resort in Pattaya. His other business ventures have included advertising agencies and other hotels in Bangkok; Hua Hin, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai as well as outside of Thailand. He also introduced American-style fast foods to Thailand in the late ’70s and and throughout the ’80s-American brands such as Mister Donut, The Pizza Company and Burger King. In 1991, Heinecke became a naturalized Thai citizen and renounced his United States citizenship. He was the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand and sat on the Prime Minister’s Foreign Investment Advisory Council. He is a supporter of the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, and authored The Entrepreneur, which has been translated into a number of languages. He now runs more than 1,000 restaurants as well as upscale hotels and resorts. In 2013, William Heinecke received the ABLF Trailblazer Award from the Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) Awards held in Dubai, UAE managed by Indian Expressions.
