Missing in Phuket: daughter appeals for South African father

A South African father has been reported missing in Phuket after he was last seen walking away from his Patong hotel on the evening of November 6, and his family is now asking residents and visitors to help find him. The Thaiger reported on Thursday that police and the Tourist Police are searching for Deven Naicker, from Yellowwood Park in Durban.

According to the report, Mr Naicker left the ASHLEE Plaza Patong Hotel and Spa at around 6.30pm on November 6. He had booked his room until November 13, and his luggage is still there.

How the search for the man missing in Phuket began

Patong Police received a missing person report from a hotel representative on November 9, three days after he was last seen. Officers are going through CCTV footage from the day he disappeared, which police said was taking time.

Police are also checking hospitals around the island and working with the South African embassy. The Tourist Police joined the search on November 10, after his daughter contacted them directly. Officers went to the hotel and checked his room for anything that could show where he had planned to go.

Readers who need to reach officers can find more about how the unit works in our earlier report on the Phuket Tourist Police.

What his daughter says

His daughter, Lavanya Naicker, 35, told The Thaiger that hotel CCTV showed her father walking towards nearby markets, but no footage showed him coming back. She said he phoned her soon after checking in, and she has not heard from him since.

His phone has been switched off, and a tracking app stopped updating, with the hotel shown as his last known location. When she could not reach him, she asked hotel staff to pass on a message, and later contacted the hotel again when he still did not call.

She has also asked why the hotel waited until November 9 to file a report. The Thaiger did not report a response from the hotel on that point.

A long-planned trip

Mr Naicker was reportedly travelling alone for the first time, although he had travelled widely before. He had not booked tours or activities, and planned to explore Thailand and decide on his plans after he arrived.

The trip had been years in the making. He first planned it to mark his 60th birthday, but postponed it after his wife died just days before that birthday in 2021.

His daughter said he is hard of hearing and not comfortable with technology, which makes his disappearance more worrying for the family. She is an only child and described him as her closest relative.

She hopes to fly to Thailand to join the search, but cannot leave South Africa until her passport is renewed. She said she was told an emergency passport was not available, so she has applied for a new one.

How you can help

The family is appealing to anyone who may have seen or spoken to Mr Naicker since November 6. They are especially keen to hear from:

• Hotel staff in and around Patong
• Restaurant and market workers near the hotel
• Tour operators and travel agents
• Taxi, tuk-tuk and motorbike taxi drivers

Anyone with information can contact Patong Police or the Tourist Police on the national hotline 1155, which has English-speaking operators. The family has also shared contact details through The Thaiger's report.

Advice for visitors travelling alone

Cases like this are rare, but they are a reminder for solo travellers to share their plans. Simple steps can make a big difference if something goes wrong:

• Send family your hotel name and a rough daily plan
• Keep a charged phone and a paper note with your hotel address
• Carry a copy of your passport and travel insurance details
• Agree on a regular time to check in with someone at home

Phuket has several large private and public hospitals, and police have said they are checking them as part of the search. Our guide to hospitals in Phuket lists the main options for visitors, and our Patong Beach guide covers the area around the hotel.

Phuket Times will update this story when police share more information.

Image: Long-tail boats on Patong Beach, near where the man missing in Phuket was last seen. Photo by Arnaud-Victor Monteux, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.