Survivor: Thailand

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Survivor: Thailand
Filming Location	Ko Tarutao, Thailand
Winner	Brian Heidik (4-3)
Season run	2002-09-19 – 2002-12-19
Filming Dates	–
Number of episodes	14
Number of days	39
Number of survivors	16
Tribes	Chuay Gahn Sook Jai Chuay Jai
All-Stars	Shii Ann Huang
Season chronology
Previous season	Survivor: Marquesas
Next season	Survivor: The Amazon

Survivor: Thailand was the fifth installment of the popular United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2002 and aired from September 19, 2002 - December 19, 2002 on CBS. It was set on the island of Ko Tarutao in Thailand. The two initial tribes were Chuay Gahn and Sook Jai. They eventually merged into the Chuay Jai tribe.

Fourteen episodes aired weekly. For the first, and so far only, time, the final two were both men. The winner, Brian Heidik, was announced on December 19, 2002.

This season was somewhat infamous due to 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. Ghandia later apologized for the accusations. The gameplay "twist" introduced for this season was that when there were 10 remaining players, the usual time for a merge, the two tribes were moved onto one beach, with a feast awaiting them. The two tribes took this to mean that they were merging, and Shii Ann attempted to use this to her advantage by openly trying to get allied with her "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 came to backfire on Shii Ann as her tribe lost the ensuing Immunity Challenge, and she was booted off for her excessive scheming.

Of the 16 contestants, only Shii Ann Huang was selected as a participant on Survivor: All-Stars. She was the 13th voted out and the 4th jury.

According to most Survivor watchers, Sook Jai got "Pagonged" because the final five were all Chuay Gahn members before the merge.

Thailand is considered 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 Thailand as a very mean-spirited season marred with hostility and ugliness, and even called Brian, Clay, Helen, and Jan the "The Least Likeable Final Four Ever." [1]

Contents 1 Episodes 1.1 Elimination notes 2 Voting history 3 Trivia 4 External link

[edit] Episodes

	Challenges			Tribes
Episode Title	Reward	Immunity	Voted Out	Original	Merged	Finish
The Importance of Being Eldest	None	Sook Jai	John Raymond	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 1st - Day 3
The Great Divide	Sook Jai	Sook Jai	Tanya Vance	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 2nd - Day 6
Family Values	Chuay Gahn	Chuay Gahn	Jed Hildebrand	Sook Jai		Voted out 3rd - Day 9
Gender Bender	Sook Jai	Sook Jai	Ghandia Johnson	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 4th - Day 12
The Ocean's Surprise	Survivor Auction	Chuay Gahn	Stephanie Dill	Sook Jai		Voted out 5th - Day 15
The Power of One	Sook Jai	Chuay Gahn	Robb Zbacnik	Sook Jai		Voted out 6th - Day 18
Assumptions	None	Chuay Gahn	Shii Ann Huang	Sook Jai		Voted out 7th - Day 21
Sleeping with the Enemy	None	Chuay Gahn	Erin Collins	Sook Jai		Voted out 8th - Day 24
Desperate Measures	Brian	Clay	Ken Stafford	Sook Jai	Chuay Jai	Voted out 9th - Day 27
While the Cats are Away	Brian, Clay	Helen	Penny Ramsey	Sook Jai		Voted out 10th - Day 30
A Big Surprise... and Another	Helen	Ted	Jake Billingsley	Sook Jai		Voted out 11th - Day 33
The Tides are Turning	Ted, Helen	Brian	Ted Rogers, Jr.	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 12th - Day 36
Slip Through Your Fingers	None	Brian	Helen Glover	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 13th - Day 37
		Brian	Jan Gentry	Chuay Gahn		Voted out 14th - Day 38
The Reunion	Jury Vote		Clay Jordan	Chuay Gahn		Runner-up
			Brian Heidik	Chuay Gahn		Sole Survivor

[edit] Elimination notes

• John Raymond - John created friction with several tribe members early, seen as becoming the self-proclaimed leader of the Chuay Gahn tribe. His joke about the water source being a swamp was not well-received, either. He was ultimately voted out 6-1-1.
• Tanya Vance - Tanya was noted several times as being well-liked, even being dubbed "the favorite of the tribe" by fellow contestant Helen. Her illness detracted strongly from her contribution to the group, and she was eliminated 5-2.
• Jed Hildebrand - 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, lead to the purposeful loss of the Immunity challenge, and a 5-3 elimination.
• Ghandia Johnson - Ghandia was perceived as being very weak in challenges, as well as incredibly divisive at camp. She was also involved in the "Grindgate" incident (see above). She was promptly voted out 4-2.
• Stephanie Dill - 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 Zbacnik - 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 Huang - 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. Too late she was informed the tribes had not actually merged, but merely lived together. Sook Jai lost immunity again, and in spite of an impassioned plea against Penny, she left 4-1.
• Erin Collins - 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 thusly blind-sided, but left in good-spirits after the 3-1 vote.
• Ken Stafford - Following the merge, Ken was the first of the minority Sook Jai original tribe members to go, deemed a physical threat.
• Penny Ramsey - 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 Billingsley - 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, would be Clay and Brian. Despite his pleas, he was sent home 5-1.
• Ted Rogers - 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 "long-time ally" for chatting with Helen in the sand. Ted was voted out 4-1.
• Helen Glover - Helen was generally perceived as being well-liked amongst the jury members. Brian planned to take the less likable Clay to the Final Two and, seeing as Jan was the lesser physical being, Helen was marked the next to go in a 3-1 vote.
• Jan Gentry - 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, likely seen as more likable than Clay.
• Clay Jordan Clay battled accusations of laziness, duplicity and racism at the heated final TC. He won 3 votes - Ken, Erin and Penny.
• Brian Heidik - In spite of some anger from Ted and Helen, he won 4 votes - Helen, Ted, Jake and Jan. He never had a single vote against him during the game, while being a strong physical competitor and playing both sides. He was also seen as the lesser of two evils at the final tribal council.

[edit] Voting history

	Starting Tribes								Merged Tribe
Episode:	Episode 1	Episode 2	Episode 3	Episode 4	Episode 5	Episode 6	Episode 7	Episode 8	Episode 9	Episode 10	Episode 11	Episode 12	Episode 13	Third Place	Runner- Up	Winner
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 jury votes	Brian 4/7 jury votes
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

[edit] Trivia

• This season marked the first time Jeff Probst hosted the reunion special.
• This is the first season to have men both a runner-up and a sole survivor. This would not occur again until Survivor: Cook Islands (which also includes a female runner-up).
• This is the first time the merged tribe name came from the two tribe names, Sook Jai and Chuay Gahn to form "Chuay Jai". Even though the tribe already had a merged name called Tarutao, the show always displayed it as Chuay Jai for the rest of the season.
• This was the first season to offer mutiny where both tribes have the option to live with the other tribe.
• This was the first season not to have the merge at the final 10, the merge happened at the final 8.
• Brian became the first contestant in series history to sweep both of the final two Immunity Challenges and go on to win the game.
• Erin Collins was the first ever contestant to become a jury member while the game was still in the tribal phase.
• On July 5, 2006, Brian Heidik was arrested for allegedly shooting a 12 to 16-week-old shepherd-hound mix puppy with an arrow. Heidik claimed he thought the animal who had wandered into his yard was a fox or a coyote even though he was just a foot away from the animal when shooting. He was charged with domestic battery and cruelty to animals.
• This was the first season to have the Survivor Auction pre-merge.

[edit] External link

• Official CBS Survivor Thailand Website
• Survivor Fever
• Survivor Maps

Survivor
Seasons
Borneo (2000) · Australia (2001) · Africa (2001) · Marquesas (2002) Thailand (2002) · Amazon (2003) · Pearl Islands (2003) · All-Stars (2004) Vanuatu (2004) · Palau (2005) · Guatemala (2005) · Panama (2006) Cook Islands (2006) · Fiji (2007) · Survivor 15 (TBA)
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