Bill Owen has passed away

PHUKET: Bill Owen, the founder of The Travel Company and, later, the events management firm Oriental Leisure, passed away in hospital earlier this morning in Swansea, South Wales.

The popular entrepreneur had been a Phuket resident for more than 20 years and was best known for his enthusiasm about Thailand and southeast Asian travel, and for his zest for life.

Mr Owen, who wrote a regular travel column for the Phuket Gazette for many years, suffered from lung cancer, diagnosed in England about two years ago.

More details will be posted here later today.

— John Magee / Phuket Gazette