Survivor: Thailand

***Survivor: Thailand*** was the fifth season of the United States reality show _Survivor_. It was filmed in the summer of 2002 and was shown on TV from September 19 – December 19, 2002 on CBS. It was set on the island of Ko Tarutao in Thailand. There were fourteen episodes, one being shown each week. The season started with two tribes; an orange tribe, Chuay Gahn (Thai:  "to help one another") and a purple tribe, Sook Jai ( "happy heart" ). Later, they merged (combined) into one tribe, which the players named "Chuay Jai", made by mixing the names **Chuay** Gahn and Sook **Jai**. On December 19, 2002, Brian Heidik won against Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3 to become the sole survivor.

The season had many new gameplay twists. The first happened on Day 1, when the two oldest players, Jake Billingsley and Jan Gentry, were given the power to pick their own tribes. This was the first time in _Survivor_ history that the two starting teams were not chosen by the producers. The second was an offer of mutiny on Day 14, which means that the twelve players that were left could join the opposite tribe if they wanted to. No one took the offer. (The twist was used again during _Survivor: Cook Islands_, with two players switching tribes.)

The biggest twist of the season was the fake merge. When only ten players were left, the usual time for a merge, the two tribes moved onto one beach, with a feast waiting for them. The two tribes thought they were merging, and Shii Ann Huang tried to align herself with members of the other tribe. At the next challenge they went to, however, the two tribes were told that they were living on one beach, but were not merged yet. That day, Shii Ann's tribe lost immunity, and she was voted off.

Host Jeff Probst said that he didn't like this season, and called it his least favorite. He said the season was mean-spirited and had a lot of hostility and ugliness, even calling Brian, Clay, Helen, and Jan "the least likable final four ever."

Shii Ann was the only player this season to return in _Survivor: All-Stars_, where she placed 6th.

## Players

|style="text-align:left"|Player|Starting tribe|Merged tribe|Finish|Total Votes|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:left"|**John Raymond** <small>40, Slidell, LA</small>|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn||1st Voted Out Day 3|6||
|style="text-align:left"|**Tanya Vance** <small>27, Kingsport, TN</small>|style="background:"#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn||2nd Voted Out Day 6|5||
|style="text-align:left"|**Jed Hildebrand** <small>25, Dallas, TX</small>|style="background:#660099; color: white"|Sook Jai||3rd Voted Out Day 9|5||
|style="text-align:left"|**Ghandia Johnson** <small>33, Denver, CO</small>|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn||4th Voted Out Day 12|5||
|style="text-align:left"|**Stephanie Dill** <small>29, Fayetteville, AR</small>|bgcolor="#660099"; color="white"|Sook Jai||5th Voted Out Day 15|5||
|style="text-align:left"|**Robb Zbacnik** <small>23, Scottsdale, AZ</small>|style="background:#660099; color="white"|Sook Jai||6th Voted Out Day 18|5||
|style="text-align:left"|**Shii Ann Huang** <small>28, New York City, NY</small>|style="background:#660099; color: white"|Sook Jai||7th Voted Out Day 21|10||
|style="text-align:left"|**Erin Collins** <small>26, Austin, TX</small>|style="background:#660099"; color: white"|Sook Jai||8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24|3||
|style="text-align:left"|**Ken Stafford** <small>30, Brooklyn, NY</small>|style="background:"#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai|style="background:gold" rowspan=8|Chuay Jai|9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27|6|
|style="text-align:left"|**Penny Ramsey** <small>27, Plano, TX</small>|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai|10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30|5|||
|style="text-align:left"|**Jake Billingsley** <small>60, McKinney, TX</small>|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai|11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33|7|||
|align="left"|**Ted Rogers, Jr.** <small>37, Durham, NC</small>|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36|7|||
|style="text-align:left"|**Helen Glover** <small>47, Middletown, RI</small>|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37|5|||
|style="text-align:left"|**Jan Gentry** <small>53, Tampa, FL</small>|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38|5|||
|style="text-align:left"|**Clay Jordan** <small>46, Monroe, LA</small>|style=background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|Runner-Up|3|||
|style="text-align:left"|**Brian Heidik** <small>34, Quartz Hill, CA</small>|style=background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|Sole Survivor|0|||

- _The **Total Votes** is the number of votes a player got during Tribal Councils where the player is able to be voted out of the game. It does not count the votes they got during the final Tribal Council._

## The game

|rowspan=2|Episode name|rowspan=2|Date shown on TV|colspan=2|Challenges|rowspan=2|Eliminated|rowspan=2|Vote|rowspan=2|Finish|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:left"|"The Importance of Being Eldest"|style="text-align:left"|September 19, 2002|None|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai||style="background:#FF4F00"|John|6-1-1|1st Voted Out Day 3|
|style="text-align:left"|"The Great Divide"|style="text-align:left"|September 26, 2002|style="background:#660099;color="white"|Sook Jai|style="background:#660099;color="white"|Sook Jai|style=background:#FF4F00"|Tanya|5-2|2nd Voted Out Day 6|
|style="text-align:left"|"Family Values"|style="text-align:left"|October 3, 2002|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style="background:#660099;color="white"|Jed|5-3|3rd Voted Out Day 9|
|align="left"|"Gender Bender"|align="left"|October 10, 2002|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Sook Jai|style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|4-2|4th Voted Out Day 12|
|style="text-align:left"|"The Ocean's Surprise"|style="text-align:left"|October 17, 2002|Survivor Auction|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|5-2|5th Voted Out Day 15||
|style="text-align:left"|"The Power of One"|style="text-align:left"|October 24, 2002|style="background#660099; color: white"|Sook Jai|style="background"#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style="background"#660099; color:white"|Robb|5-1|6th Voted Out Day 18|
|style="text-align:left"|"Assumptions"|style="text-align:left"|October 31, 2002|None|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|4-1|7th Voted Out Day 21||
|style="text-align:left"|"Sleeping with the Enemy"|style="text-align:left"|November 7, 2002|None|style="background:#FF4F00"|Chuay Gahn|style=background:#660099;color:white"|Erin|3-1|8th Voted Out Day 24||
|style="text-align:left"|"Desperate Measures"|style="text-align:left"|November 14, 2002|style="background:gold"|Brian|style="background:gold"|Clay|style="background:gold"|Ken|5-3|9th Voted Out Day 27|
|style="text-align:left"|"While the Cats are Away"|style="text-align:left"|November 21, 2002|style="background:gold"|Brian [Clay]|style="background:gold"|Helen|style="background:gold"|Penny|4-2-1|10th Voted Out Day 30|
|align="left"|"The First 30 Days"|align="left"|November 28, 2002|colspan="6" align="center"|_Recap Episode_|||||||
|align="left"|"A Big Surprise... and Another"|align="left"|December 5, 2002|bgcolor="gold"|Helen|bgcolor="gold"|Ted|bgcolor="gold"|Jake|5-1|11th Voted Out Day 33|
|align="left"|"The Tides are Turning"|align="left"|December 12, 2002|bgcolor="gold"|Ted [Helen]|bgcolor="gold"|Brian|bgcolor="gold"|Ted|4-1|12th Voted Out Day 36|
|rowspan=2 align="left"|"Slip Through Your Fingers"|rowspan=2 align="left"|December 19, 2002|rowspan=2|None|bgcolor="gold"|Brian|bgcolor="gold"|Helen|3-1|13th Voted Out Day 37|
|bgcolor="gold"|Brian|bgcolor="gold"|Jan|1-0|14th Voted Out Day 38|||||||
|rowspan=2 align="left"|"The Reunion"|rowspan=2 align="left"|December 19, 2002|rowspan=2 colspan=2|Jury Vote|bgcolor="gold"|Clay|rowspan=2|4-3|Runner-Up||
|bgcolor="gold"|Brian|Sole Survivor||||||||||
- _If more than one tribe or player wins reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically if it was teamwork, or where one player won and invited others, the players they invited are in brackets._

For the first time, the players would be bidding for items as tribes. Sook Jai and Chuay Gahn each got $1000 in American money.

In a twist, the Survivors' family members competed in an insect food eating challenge to see their loved one. Helen's husband Jim actually won the challenge and he spent 24 hours at the Chuay Jai camp with her.

In another twist, the players and their loved ones competed for immunity. Ted and his younger brother Aljuan won thus earning Ted immunity.

## Voting history

||colspan=8|Starting tribes|colspan=9|Merged tribe|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align="left"|Episode #:|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|colspan=2|13|colspan=2|Reunion||||||||||||
|style="text-align:left"|Eliminated:|style="background:#FF4F00"|John 6/8 votes|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya 5/7 votes|style="background:#660099; color:white">Jed 5/8 votes|style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia 4/6 votes|style="background:#660099; color:white">Stephanie 5/7 votes|style="background:#660099; color:white">Robb 5/6 votes|style="background:#660099; color:white"> 4/5 votes|style="background:#660099; color:white">Erin 3/4 votes|style="background:gold"|Ken 5/8 votes|style="background:gold"|Penny 4/7 votes|style="background:gold"|Jake 5/6 votes|style="background:gold"|Ted 4/5 votes|style="background:gold"|Helen 3/4 votes|style="background:gold"|Jan 1 vote|style="background:gold"|Clay 3/7 votes|style="background:gold"|Brian 4/7 votes|
|style="background:gold" align="left"|Brian|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya||style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|||||style="background:gold"|Ken|style="background:gold"|Penny|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Helen|style="background:gold"|Jan|colspan=2 rowspan=2|Jury Vote|||
|style="background:gold" align="left"|Clay|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya||style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|||||style="background:gold"|Ken|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Helen|||||||
|style="background:gold" align="left"|Jan|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya||style="background:#FF4F00"|Clay|||||style="background:gold"|Ken|style="background:gold"|Penny|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Helen|||style="background:gold"|Brian|||
|style="background:gold" align="left"|Helen|style="background:#FF4F00"|Clay|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya||style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|||||style="background:gold"|Ken|style="background:gold"|Penny|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Jan|style="background:darkgray"|||style="background:gold"|Brian||
|style="background:gold" align="left"|Ted|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Tanya||style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|||||style="background:gold"|Ken|style="background:gold"|Penny|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:gold"|Jan|style="background:darkgray" colspan=2|||style="background:gold"|Brian||||
|style="background:gold; text-align:left"|Jake|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Jed||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|style="background:#660099; color:"white"|Robb|style="background:#660099; color:"white"|Shii Ann|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Erin|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Jan|style="background:gold"|Jan|style="background:darkgray" colspan=3|||style="background:gold"|Brian||||
|style="background:gold" style=text-align:left"|Penny|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Jed||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Robb|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:#660099; color;white"|Erin|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:gold"|Jake|style="background:darkgray" colspan=4||style="background:gold"|Clay|||||||
|style="background:gold; text-align:left"|Ken|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Jed||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Robb|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:#660099;color:white"|Erin|style="background:gold"|Ted|style="background:darkgray" colspan=5||style="background:gold"|Clay|||||||||
|style="background:#660099; text-align:left; color:white"|Erin|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Jed||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Robb|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Ken|style="background:darkgray" colspan=6||style="background:gold"|Clay|||||||||||
|style="background:#660099" text-align:left; color:white"|Shii Ann|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Jed||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Stephanie|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Robb|style="background:#660099; color:white"|Penny|style="background:darkgray" colspan=9||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#660099" text-align:left; color:white">Robb|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:#660099; color:white"||style="background:darkgray" colspan=10|||||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#660099 text-align:left; color:white"|Stephanie|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:darkgray" colspan=11||||||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#FF4F00; text-align:left"|Ghandia|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Helen||style="background:#FF4F00"|Clay|style="background:darkgray" colspan=12||||||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#660099; text-align:left; color:white"|Jed|||style="background:#660099; color:white"|Shii Ann|style="background:darkgray" colspan=13|||||||||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#FF4F00; text-align:left"|Tanya|style="background:#FF4F00"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Helen|style="background:darkgray" colspan=14|||||||||||||||||||||||
|style="background:#FF4F00; text-align:left"|John|style="background:#FF4F00"|Ghandia|style="background:darkgray" colspan=15|||||||||||||||||||||||||

## Other websites

- Official CBS Survivor Thailand Website

## Infobox (television survivor)

- **season name**: Survivor: Thailand
- **filming started**: June 10, 2002
- **filming completed**: July 18, 2002
- **location**: Ko Tarutao, Satun Province, Thailand
- **winner**: Brian Heidik
- **final vote**: 4-3
- **number survivors**: 16
- **number days**: 39
- **number episodes**: 14
- **previous season**: Survivor: Marquesas
- **next season**: Survivor: The Amazon
- **tribes**: Chuay Gahn
 Sook Jai
 Chuay Jai
- **all stars**: Shii Ann Huang