"He Was Not There": Durban Family Desperate to Find 65-Year-Old Deven Naicker Missing in Thailand
- A Durban family is appealing for public help after Deven Naicker, 65, disappeared in Phuket days after arriving alone
- CCTV footage from his hotel showed him walking towards a nearby market, but he never returned to his room
- His daughter Lavanya is unable to fly to Thailand immediately because her passport has expired
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Source: Facebook
A Durban man has gone missing in Thailand, leaving his family desperate for answers thousands of kilometres away. Deven Naicker, 65, from Yellowwood Park, arrived in Phuket on 6 November 2026 and checked into the Ashlee Hotel. He called his daughter Lavanya shortly after arriving, and that was the last time anyone heard from him. His phone has been switched off ever since.
Lavanya Naicker, 35, a businesswoman, raised the alarm after repeated attempts to reach her father failed. She contacted the hotel, and staff checked his room only to find him gone. The hotel then shared CCTV footage with her, showing her father leaving the premises and heading in the direction of a nearby market. There was no footage of him coming back. Lavanya said:
"The hotel said they have not seen him since that day. They even checked his room, but he was not there."
A tracking application on her father's phone had also gone silent, with his last known location recorded at the hotel.
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A trip years in the making
The journey to Phuket had been a long time coming for Deven. He had originally planned the trip to celebrate his 60th birthday, but postponed it after the death of his wife in 2021, just days before that milestone. Five years later, he finally decided to go.
Lavanya said her father had not booked any tours or activities in advance. He wanted to arrive and explore freely, which meant the family has no itinerary to work from. She added that her father is hard of hearing and not confident with technology, making the search even more difficult.
The family is also navigating a language barrier while trying to get information from businesses and authorities in Phuket. Lavanya is an only child. She described her father as her closest family and said she had wanted to fly to Thailand immediately, but her passport had expired.
Home Affairs told her emergency passports were not available. She has since applied for a renewal and is waiting.
She also raised concern about how long it took for the matter to be reported locally. According to Lavanya, the hotel only notified Thai police on Monday, even though her father had been missing for several days by that point.
The family has since contacted the relevant South African embassy. Anyone who has seen or spoken to Deven Naicker in Phuket, or who works in a hotel, restaurant, tour company or taxi service in the area, is urged to contact Lavanya Naicker at lavanya.naicker@gmail.com.
View the Facebook appeal below:
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Source: Briefly News
