Survivor: Thailand

Template:Contains Indic text Template:Infobox Television Survivor Survivor: Thailand was the fifth installment of the popular United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in the summer of 2002 and aired from September 19, 2002 - December 19, 2002 on CBS. It was set on the island of Ko Tarutao in Thailand. Fourteen episodes aired weekly. The two initial tribes were Chuay Gahn (Thai: ช่วยกัน "to help one another") and Sook Jai (Thai: สุขใจ "happy heart" ). They eventually merged into the Chuay Jai tribe. On December 19, 2002, Brian Heidik defeated Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3 to become the sole survivor.

The season introduced several new gameplay twists. The first occurred on Day 1, when the two eldest contestants, Jake Billingsley and Jan Gentry, were each given the power to pick their own tribes. This was the first time in Survivor history that the two initial teams were not preselected by the producers. The second was an offer of mutiny: each of the twelve remaining contestants were given the chance to leave their tribe and join the other if they wished. No one took the offer (the twist was re-used in the later season Survivor: Cook Islands, that time successfully).

The major twist of the season was the "fake merge": when only 10 players remained, the usual time for a merge, the two tribes moved onto one beach, with a feast awaiting them. The two tribes took this to mean that they were merging, and Shii Ann Huang attempted to use this to her advantage by openly trying to ally herself with the "former" opposing tribe. At the next challenge they attended, however, the two tribes were informed that they were living on one beach, but were not merged. This backfired on Huang as her tribe lost the Immunity Challenge, and she was voted off for her excessive scheming.

Thailand is considered by some fans as one of the lesser Survivor seasons, being generally seen as dull, non-competitive, and lacking in interesting personalities. Jeff Probst himself stated that he was not fond of the season, going as far as calling it his least favorite. He described the season as mean-spirited and marred with hostility and ugliness, even calling Brian, Clay, Helen, and Jan the "the least likeable final four ever." [1]

This season is somewhat infamous for the so-called "Grindgate" incident, in which Ghandia Johnson accused Ted Rogers of grinding into her without her permission while they were both partially asleep on Night 6. The scandal created drama and friction at the Chuay Gahn camp, eventually leading to Ghandia's elimination. Johnson later apologized for her handling of the situation, however, Rogers did admit to the grinding.

Shii Ann was the only representative of Thailand to appear as a contestant on Survivor: All-Stars, where she placed 6th.

Contestants

Contestant	Original Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total Votes
John Raymond Pastor 40, Slidell, LA	Chuay Gahn		1st Voted Out Day 3	6
Tanya Vance Social Worker 27, Kingsport, TN	Chuay Gahn		2nd Voted Out Day 6	5
Jed Hildebrand Dental Student 25, Dallas, TX	Sook Jai		3rd Voted Out Day 9	5
Ghandia Johnson Legal Secretary 33, Denver, CO	Chuay Gahn		4th Voted Out Day 12	5
Stephanie Dill Firefighter 29, Fayetteville, AR	Sook Jai		5th Voted Out Day 15	5
Robb Zbacnik Bartender 23, Scottsdale, AZ	Sook Jai		6th Voted Out Day 18	5
Shii Ann Huang Executive Recruiter 28, New York City, NY	Sook Jai		7th Voted Out Day 21	10
Erin Collins Real Estate Agent 26, Austin, TX	Sook Jai		8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	3
Ken Stafford NYC Police Officer 30, Brooklyn, NY	Sook Jai	Chuay Jai	9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	6
Penny Ramsey Pharmaceutical Sales 27, Plano, TX	Sook Jai		10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	5
Jake Billingsley Land Broker 61, McKinney, TX	Sook Jai		11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	7
Ted Rogers, Jr. Software Developer 36, Durham, NC	Chuay Gahn		12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	7
Helen Glover Navy Swim Instructor 47, Middletown, RI	Chuay Gahn		13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	5
Jan Gentry Teacher 53, Tampa, FL	Chuay Gahn		14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	5
Clay Jordan Restaurateur 46, Monroe, LA	Chuay Gahn		Runner-Up	3
Brian Heidik Used Car Sales 34, Quartz Hill, CA	Chuay Gahn		Sole Survivor	0

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

The game

Episode title	Air Date	Challenges		Eliminated	Vote	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"The Importance of Being Eldest"	September 19, 2002	None	Sook Jai	John	6-1-1	1st Voted Out Day 3
"The Great Divide"	September 26, 2002	Sook Jai	Sook Jai	Tanya	5-2	2nd Voted Out Day 6
"Family Values"	October 3, 2002	Chuay Gahn	Chuay Gahn	Jed	5-3	3rd Voted Out Day 9
"Gender Bender"	October 10, 2002	Sook Jai	Sook Jai	Ghandia	4-2	4th Voted Out Day 12
"The Ocean's Surprise"	October 17, 2002	Survivor Auction	Chuay Gahn	Stephanie	5-2	5th Voted Out Day 15
"The Power of One"	October 24, 2002	Sook Jai	Chuay Gahn	Robb	5-1	6th Voted Out Day 18
"Assumptions"	October 31, 2002	None	Chuay Gahn	Shii Ann	4-1	7th Voted Out Day 21
"Sleeping with the Enemy"	November 7, 2002	None	Chuay Gahn	Erin	3-1	8th Voted Out Day 24
"Desperate Measures"	November 14, 2002	Brian	Clay	Ken	5-3	9th Voted Out Day 27
"While the Cats are Away"	November 21, 2002	Brian	Helen	Penny	4-2-1	10th Voted Out Day 30
"A Big Surprise... and Another"	December 5, 2002	Helen1	Ted	Jake	5-1	11th Voted Out Day 33
"The Tides are Turning"	December 12, 2002	Ted	Brian	Ted	4-1	12th Voted Out Day 36
"Slip Through Your Fingers"	December 19, 2002	None	Brian	Helen	3-1	13th Voted Out Day 37
			Brian	Jan	1-0	14th Voted Out Day 38
"The Reunion"	December 19, 2002	Jury Vote		Clay	4-3	Runner-Up
				Brian		Sole Survivor

^1 In a twist, the Survivors' family members competed in a gross food eating challenge to see their loved one. Helen's husband Jim actually won the challenge.

Elimination notes

• John - John created friction with several tribe members early, seen as the self-proclaimed leader of the Chuay Gahn tribe. Additionally, his joke about the water source being a swamp was not well-received. He was ultimately voted out 6-1-1.
• Tanya - Tanya was noted several times as being well-liked, even being dubbed "the favorite of the tribe" by fellow contestant Helen. However, her illness detracted strongly from her contribution to the group, and she was eliminated 5-2.
• Jed - Jed and Stephanie emerged early on as loners, choosing to worry more about water and fire than the group's main focus, shelter. Jed's devotion to this, as well as his exclusion from the majority alliance, led to his 5-3 elimination.
• Ghandia - Ghandia was perceived as being very weak in challenges, as well as divisive at camp (she wanted Clay out by the means of a women's alliance). She was also the self-claimed "victim" of the "Grindgate Scandal". The women's alliance was not to be for Helen sided with the men in voting Ghandia out 4-2.
• Stephanie - Stephanie faced continued isolation from her early relationship with Jed. Despite the offer to jump tribes, Steph stayed with Sook Jai, and was the next to go by a 5-2 vote.
• Robb - The sole remaining outcast from Sook Jai's majority alliance, Robb's personality was perceived as abrasive by many. His consumption of the tribe's bananas raised some controversy, while his later epiphany during a wine-drinking night raised some deep thought. Despite this, he was voted out 5-1.
• Shii Ann - The tribes were told they would be living together on the same beach, given similar conditions to the previously typical merge. On the lowest rung of her alliance, Shii Ann jumped to the other team when they began living together. Ultimately, she was informed the tribes had not actually merged, but merely lived together. Sook Jai lost immunity again, and in spite of a very hard-fought plea against Penny, she left 4-1.
• Erin - When Sook Jai lost yet another Immunity challenge, it came down to the core four of the tribe. Penny offered the opportunity to let "the one" to know he or she was leaving, but Erin did not want to do so, believing the vote to be for Ken. Erin was blindsided, but left in good spirits after a 3-1 vote.
• Ken - Following the merge, Ken was the first of the minority Sook Jai original tribe members to go, deemed a physical threat.
• Penny - Seen as manipulative and unpredictable, Penny was chosen as the next to go, despite her own maneuvering to get Jake out before herself. She was voted out 4-2-1.
• Jake - The final member of Sook Jai, he did all that he could to arouse suspicion within the solid alliance, including his presentation of what he believed to be the Chuay Gahn chopping order. The final two, he claimed (correctly, as it turned out) would be Clay and Brian. Despite his pleas, he was sent home 5-1.
• Ted - Seen as a threat in the final physical challenges, Ted was the target for many of the remaining members. Brian also became upset with his "longtime ally" for chatting with Helen in the sand. Ted was voted out 4-1.
• Helen - Helen was generally perceived as being well-liked amongst the jury members. Jan told Clay and Brian that she'd seen Ted and Helen writing in the sand with a stick when they thought the others weren't watching. Thinking Helen had been making plans with Ted, he got Clay and Jan to vote Helen out in a 3-1 vote.
• Jan - On the fringe of the dominant alliance for most of the game, Jan was persuaded to join Brian and Clay in the Final 3, likely because she was not seen as a challenge threat. This proved true when she was the first to concede in the final challenge, Clay following soon afterwards. Jan was voted out by Brian, presumably because she was considered more likable than Clay.
• Clay - Clay battled accusations of laziness, duplicity and racism at the heated final tribal council. He won the votes of 3 Sook Jai jurors (Ken, Penny & Erin).
• Brian - In spite of some anger from Ted and Helen, he won four votes, from the three Chuay Gahn jurors (Ted, Helen & Jan) and Jake. He never had a single vote cast against him during the game, despite being a strong physical competitor and playing both sides.

Voting history

	Starting Tribes								Merged Tribe
Episode #:	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13		Reunion
Eliminated:	John 6/8 votes	Tanya 5/7 votes	Jed 5/8 votes	Ghandia 4/6 votes	Stephanie 5/7 votes	Robb 5/6 votes	Shii.Ann 4/5 votes	Erin 3/4 votes	Ken 5/8 votes	Penny 4/7 votes	Jake 5/6 votes	Ted 4/5 votes	Helen 3/4 votes	Jan 1 Vote	Clay 3/7 votes	Brian 4/7 votes
Voter	Vote
Brian	John	Tanya		Ghandia					Ken	Penny	Jake	Ted	Helen	Jan	Jury Vote
Clay	John	Tanya		Ghandia					Ken	Jake	Jake	Ted	Helen
Jan	John	Tanya		Clay					Ken	Penny	Jake	Ted	Helen			Brian
Helen	Clay	Tanya		Ghandia					Ken	Penny	Jake	Ted	Jan			Brian
Ted	John	Tanya		Ghandia					Ken	Penny	Jake	Jan				Brian
Jake			Jed		Stephanie	Robb	Shii Ann	Erin	Ted	Jan	Jan					Brian
Penny			Jed		Stephanie	Robb	Shii Ann	Erin	Ted	Jake					Clay
Ken			Jed		Stephanie	Robb	Shii Ann	Erin	Ted						Clay
Erin			Jed		Stephanie	Robb	Shii Ann	Ken							Clay
Shii Ann			Jed		Stephanie	Robb	Penny
Robb			Shii.Ann		Shii Ann	Shii.Ann
Stephanie			Shii Ann		Shii Ann
Ghandia	John	Helen		Clay
Jed			Shii Ann
Tanya	John	Helen
John	Ghandia

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Thailand Website