Survivor: Thailand

Survivor: Thailand is the fifth season of . 
The post-merge portion of the game was dominated by the Chuay Gahn Five, which systemically voted out the remnants of the Sook Jai tribe. The season was won by Brian Heidik, whose cutthroat strategic gameplay allowed him to win the title over Clay Jordan in a 4-3 vote. To date, it has produced one returning player (Shii Ann Huang) for subsequent seasons.
==Production==
Thailand took place in , the largest island located in the . An ancient Thai temple was used as the season's Tribal Council.https://ew.com/article/2002/08/16/meet-survivor-thailand-contestants Shooting commenced on June 10 and concluded on July 18, 2002. 
In 2011, the season was released on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com.
==Twists/Changes==
* Tribe Composition: The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes of eight. In a Survivor first, Jake, the oldest man, selected the members of Sook Jai, while Jan, the oldest woman, selected the members of Chuay Gahn.
* Camps with Pros and Cons: The Chuay Gahn camp had a cave, thus making shelter a non-issue, though its water source was on another island. The Sook Jai camp, on the other hand, had a nearby water hole, though a shelter had to be made.
* Pre-merge Survivor Auction: For the first time, the Survivor Auction was held during the game's tribal phase. The auction itself was a bidding competition between the two tribes and not between individuals.
* : Before the auction started, the castaways were invited to change tribe affiliations at will. No one took the offer, however.
* Fake Merge: The two tribes, having a collective roster of ten members, were instructed to live on one camp for the rest of the game. They took this to mean that the two tribes had merged. However, it was revealed not to be the case, with the tribes remaining separate and still competing for tribal immunity.
* Merged Tribe Composition: The merged tribe was composed of eight members.
* Final Tribal Council Format: Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.
==Castaways==
Contestant	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Finish	VotesAgainst
Contestant	Contestant 	Original Tribe 	Merged Tribe 	Finish	VotesAgainst
 	40, Slidell, LAPastor 	 	 	 	6
 	Tanya Vance27, Gray, TNSocial Worker 	 	 	 	5
 	Jed Hildebrand25, Dallas, TXDental Student 	 	 	 	5
 	Ghandia Johnson33, Denver, COLegal Secretary 	 	 	 	5
 	Stephanie Dill29, Ozark, ARFirefighter 	 	 	 	5
 	Robb Zbacnik23, Scottsdale, AZBartender 	 	 	 	5
 	Shii Ann Huang28, New York City, NYExecutive Recruiter	 	 	 	10
 	Erin Collins26, Austin, TXReal Estate Agent 	 	 	 	3
 	Ken Stafford29, Brooklyn, NYPolice Officer 	 	rowspan="8" 	 	6
 	Penny Ramsey27, Plano, TXPharmaceutical Saleswoman 	 	 	5 	
 	Jake Billingsley60, McKinney, TXLand Broker 	 	 	7 	
 	Ted Rogers, Jr.37, Durham, NCSoftware Developer 	 	 	7 	
 	Helen Glover47, Middletown, RINavy Swim Instructor 	 	 	5 	
 	Jan Gentry53, Tampa, FLTeacher 	 	 	5 	
 	Clay Jordan46, Monroe, LARestaurant Owner 	 	Runner-Up 	3 	
 	Brian Heidik34, Quartz Hill, CAUsed Car Salesman 	 	Sole Survivor 	0 	
==Season Summary==
The game began with the contestants being brought to the island in two boats, one for each gender. This led the contestants to assume that the tribes would be divided by gender. However, this theory was proved wrong when Jake and Jan, the eldest male and female contestants, were instructed to select their tribemates (as Thai culture stated that elders received utmost respect) - a first in the series. Ultimately, Jan's picks were mostly older, weaker contestants (much to the ire of her teammates), and this left Jake to pick the younger, more athletic players. 
After six days of competition, the younger Sook Jai tribe dominated the elderly Chuay Gahn tribe in challenges, with Chuay Gahn's members immediately decimated to six. Chuay Gahn's fortunes turned around after the first losses, and they went on to win the next Reward Challenge and then the Immunity Challenge, thus temporarily sending Sook Jai to Tribal Council. Sook Jai's lack of shelter proved to be a source of tension in the tribe, as the tribe members quickly became divided between those who worked on building the shelter and those who gathered water and food.
Despite their newly-found vigor, Chuay Gahn also had their share of mishaps, when Ghandia accused Ted of having sexual advances with her, which the latter denied. This argument threatened the unity within the tribe, and as a result, they lost another Immunity Challenge. Ghandia tried to make an all-female alliance with Jan and Helen, but Helen sided with the men to get rid of Ghandia.
On Day 19, a twist in the game sent Sook Jai to live together with the Chuay Gahns at their camp, making everybody believe that a merge had occurred. With this, Sook Jai member Shii Ann, who deemed herself as the lowest-ranking person in her alliance, made an alliance with the Chuay Gahn members to ensure her safety. However, in a shocking announcement at the seventh Immunity Challenge, it was revealed that the tribes weren't merging yet, but were just living together on one beach. With Sook Jai suffering two Immunity losses in a row, Shii Ann and Erin paid the price, dwindling the once strong Sook Jai tribe to a paltry three members against Chuay Gahn's five.
On Day 25, the two tribes finally merged into the Chuay Jai tribe, but the deficit Sook Jai faced entering the merge overwhelmed them, and they were systematically eliminated. With only Chuay Gahn members left, the remaining survivors were faced with the reality of having to vote one of their own out. Helen and Ted quickly targeted Clay for his lack of work ethic. However, Brian, who had made separate alliances with three of the four remaining castaways, used his influence to manipulate the vote to his liking. At the next three Tribal Councils, Brian swerved the vote in the direction of Ted, whom he perceived as the biggest physical threat, then Helen, for catching her playing both sides and, finally, Jan, for being well-liked and not being as close to Brian as Clay was.
At the Final Tribal Council, Brian was castigated for breaking friendships to further his interests, while Clay was admonished for his coattail riding and poor work ethic. Eventually, Brian's athleticism and superb strategy awarded him the title of Sole Survivor by a vote of 4-3.
==Voting History==
==Trivia==
*Thailand is the first cast to include an Asian-American contestant: Shii Ann.
* Thailand is the first season not to include any LGBT contestants.
* Thailand was the first season not to feature the Buggin' Out challenge as the second Immunity Challenge. Instead, it was incorporated as part of the Loved Ones Challenge, with the loved ones having to eat the disgusting food to spend time with their respective castaway.
* Thailand marks the first time that Jeff Probst could not determine against whom a vote was cast. In the episode , Clay cast a vote for Ghandia that read "Bye Bye Denver Diva". Probst had to ask whoever cast the vote to explain what it meant and whom it was intended for.
* Thus far, Thailand is the only season to feature the Survivor Auction before the merge, with tribes competing.
* Thailand is the season to have the fewest castaways comprise the merged tribe with eight.
* Thailand is the first season to have the jury phase begin before the merge.
* Thailand is the first in which the winner of the Final Immunity Challenge won the game.
* Thailand marks the first time two tribes lived on one beach without being merged, as part of the Fake Merge twist. This concept would later be used as the central twist in .
* Thailand is the first to have two men in the Final Two.
* Thailand marks the first time that the castaway's loved ones were able to compete alongside them in an Immunity Challenge.
* Thailand is the first season to not feature a tie vote of any kind.
* Thailand's jury phase mirrors that of , where one tribe got systematically voted out, leaving the five representatives of the other tribe by Day 34. Then, at the Final Tribal Council, three of the four members of the obliterated tribe voted for the eventual runner-up, then the fourth member, plus the jurors from the other tribe voted for the winner.
* Thailand is the first season where Jeff Probst hosted the Reunion Show.
==References==
05
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor: Thailand