Deck 1 : Gin in Phuket

Laguna Alamanda Hotel

It is not at all surprising when to our experience in our short stay in Phuket, everywhere we go when we meet the Thai people, they are always polite and accommodating, whilst the apparels sold are at bargains rates compared to what we get in our country.It was shopping galore for the shoppers amongst us and as usual both Sabri and I remained on the sidelines when it came to this. For our “silence reward” we both got the latest bermuda shorts, which were not only colourful but of the latest style. As usual Ainul bought one each for the boys, as is her way whenever we are overseas or out of ther country.

Generally the place is very clean, with the exception that the water supply in Phuket is non-drinkable due to the fact that the pipes are rusty and under dier need of complete overhaul and replacement - so says our resort staff. Hence our disappointment and despair in having to buy drinking water for ourselves and these are by no means cheap at the resorts where we stayed. We soon got wise to it and we went all the way to Tesco in Phuket town to obtain several bottles of reasonably priced drinking water. When we considered this non-readily availability of drinkable tap water in Phuket, we consider ourselves very lucky indeed that our tap water, despite its occasional brownish look, are drinkable and conforms to the WHO standard, says Jalil, a member of our family in Alor Star, who was then the Kedah’s State Water Works Department chief. The country’s water pipes are gradually being replaced by new ones, with the present old pipes being partly instrumental in creating the brownish look of our tap water currently, so says those in the Authority ! We can only hope and pray that what they say is really true though ! Anyway, in our house today, we have installed three water filters to the pipes leading to our house, plus installing reversed osmosis machine for our drinking water. As if this is not enough, we also buy bottled reversed osmosis water from a commercial supplier which provides the water dispenser as well to go with their bottled water.


We all, the gin rummy gang, Sabri, Nuruani, Mahatun, Gambas, Enah, Aziz, Ainul and I, had a great time at Phuket, Thailand, staying a week at the five stars Laguna Alamanda hotel and resort. It was the near perfect place to spend a holiday, especially when we are amongst friends
of common interests. Life is fun when we are with others who enjoy almost everything without reservations. Such was the company that we had then at Phuket. I have always been forewarned in my younger days, the surest way to lose a friendship is when you travel overseas together, when you do business and even when we play competitive games. It is to be expected that it is at all these occasions that one’s patience, tolerance and understanding undergo great tests of endurance and stability.


With our present gin’s gang, it has evolved into a very matured group of players who tolerate a lot of flaks and nonsensical remarks. I must confess I am always the one who provoke arguments and discussions on the slightest incidence of doubtful move or rules of gin that we play. Most of the time , my target, so it seems to the rest, is Mahatun, who to me is full of fun to be with in the game, because she is full of antics of her own to which Sabri quite often pokes remarks at hers, which are very humorous to all of us.

On the other hand, there is Nuruaini, who almost always gets her way whenever she is down in the game. Her favorite is to insist on a full flush on hand for a minimum of three rounds before ending the game of the day, and this is done to ensure a chance for her to either reduce her deficits or win the game outright. But of course it cannot be ruled out that Mahatun is always a dangerous adversary since she seems to have all the luck for a good deck of gin cards.


Occasionally, Ainul would pull a surprise win, whilst Sabri would almost always begin well with the game or coming up with surprises in the middle of the session though rarely the winner at the end of the day.

As for me, I am the real risk taker and to them the danger man, since I will keep my decks right to the last drawn down in the hope of a surprised gin or a flush. Give and take, our gin sessions have never been a dull session. If at all, they can prove to be very tense and stressful for the new recruits such as Enah and Gambas, who were both “forced” by us to join in and learn the game. To our shock and surprise, at Phuket, Enah, then considered a novice in the game, pulled a flush without a single throw, which penalized all of us with three times the points of our undrawn decks. Previous to this big surprise, Enah was very reluctant to play the game beyond ten o'clock at night. However, after that big win, she even stayed until near one a.m.!

Such is the pull of our gin game, which till today becomes an obsession to both Sabri and Nuruaini and without exception to the rest of us too. These days, gin is habitual to our group. Whenever Sabri is off for the day or has finished his usual hospital rounds or not on call, we will all assemble at our house to play gin till late in the evenings.

As Sabri says, "what else can we old folks do? Play gin and be happy and miserable at the same time, and hopefully we grow old gracefully ! ”.

written by Tunku Farid
edited by Aida Halim
photos by Dr. Sabri