Survivor: Thailand

Survivor: Thailand was the fifth installment of the popular reality show Survivor. It was filmed in the summer of 2002 and aired from September 19 to December 19, 2002 on CBS. It was set on the island of Ko Tarutao in Thailand. 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. Brian Heidik defeated Clay Jordan by a vote of 4-3 to become the sole survivor.

Jeff Probst 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."

In 2011, the season was released on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com.

Twists/Changes

 * Self-selection of tribemates: Unlike the previous four editions where the producers preselected the contestants' tribe affiliations, this season had the contestants chose their own tribemates. Given that elders are given utmost respect in Thailand, it was incorporated into the game, where the eldest contestants of both genders (Jake Billingsley and Jan Gentry) were tasked to pick their tribemates. In a coincidence, in Chuay Gahn, Jan's pick's were mostly older cast members (except for one, Tanya), leaving Jake with an entire tribe of younger, more athletic contestants.
 * Compromised camps: Similar to last season, the tribes would have camps that has advantages and disadvantages. Chuay Gahn camp is virtually a cave, thus making thumb|300px|right|Survivor: Thailand Opening Creditsshelter a non-necessity, though its water source was on the other side of the island. Sook Jai's camp has a nearby water hole, though they have to make their own shelter.
 * Mutiny: In Day 14, the castaways were invited to change tribe affiliations at will.
 * Tribal Survivor Auction: The tribes for the first (and only) time in the history of the series that the Survivor Auction was held during the game's tribal phase.
 * Fake Merge and Delayed Merge: On Day 19, the tribes were instructed to move to Chuay Gahn's old camp, leaving the ten remaining castaways assuming that they were already merged, only waiting for new buffs and flag (even to the point of them already creating a new tribe name). But before the seventh Immunity Challenge, the tribes were stunned, when the host revealed that the tribes were merely living together, but not merged. The actual merger took place in Day 25.

Castaways
 Note:  The Votes Against 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.

Season Summary
The game began with the contestants being brought to the island in two boats, one for each gender. This lead the contestants to assume that the tribes would be divided by gender. However, this theory was proved wrong when Jake and Jan, the two eldest contestants from both genders (as Thai culture stated that elders received utmost respect), were given the opportunity to select their own tribemates, 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. Jake and Jan were then ask to choose one of two campsites for their tribe dwellings, with contrasting advantages and disadvantages. Jan's pick was a campsite with a cave, eliminating the duty of creating a shelter but its water source will be difficult to find, while as Jake chose the other camp, a beach that has a nearby water source, but they have to build a shelter. After then, the game began.

After six days of competition, the younger (albeit turmoil-stricken) Sook Jai tribe dominated in challenges than the elderly Chuay Gahn tribe, with its members immediately decimated into six, with the loss of John and Tanya. Despite losing morale as well as challenges, Chuay Gahn's went on to win the next Reward Challenge and then the Immunity Challenge, thus temporarily sending Sook Jai to Tribal Council, where the lack of shelter at Sook Jai 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. Jed, Robb, and Stephanie who ignored the shelter work, separated themselves from the rest of the tribe and chose to sleep on the beach rather than in the shelter. This quickly affected alliances formed on Sook Jai as the others quickly coalesced and formed their own alliance.

But despite their newly-found vigor, Chuay Gahn also had their share of mishaps, when Ghandia accused Ted of having sexual advances with her, in which the latter passionately denied. This gesture threatened the unity within the tribe, as they lost another Immunity Challenge. Ghandia tried to make an all-female voting alliance with Jan and Helen, but Helen sided with the males, and Ghandia was eliminated. After Ghandia's elimination, Chuay Gahn's finally pulled it together, as they managed to win the next two Immunity Challenges. After the next two Tribal Councils, the Sook Jai core alliance of Jake, Penny, Shii Ann and Ken eliminated the alliance outsiders Stephanie and Robb, thus evening up the tribes with five members apiece.

On Day 19, a strange announcement made the two competing tribes live together at the Chuay Gahn camp for the rest of the competition, with the assumptions of a merge. With this, Sook Jai member Shii Ann (who deemed herself as the lowest wrung in her alliance) made a voting bloc with the Chuay Gahn members to ensure her safety. However in a shocking announcement at the seventh Immunity Challenge, Jeff revealed that the tribes were only joined together to live in one camp, but not as a merged tribe (thus keeping the tribes separate). With Sook Jai suffering another loss, Shii Ann's early lobbying cost her dearly, as she got eliminated from the game. When Sook Jai lost yet again another Immunity Challenge, they chose to eliminate Erin, who became the first member of the Jury. The once dominant tribe of Sook Jai was down to their last three members as opposed to 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 was too much for them to overcome, and they were systematically picked off one by one. With only Chuay Gahn members left, they were faced with the reality of voting one of their own out, something they hadn't done in fifteen days. Helen and Ted quickly targeted Clay for his lack of work ethic. However, Brian, who had made separate alliances with three of the four other people used his influence to manipulate the vote to his liking. First, he turned the tribe on Ted, who was perceived as the biggest physical threat. Then, he targeted Helen, as he mistakenly thought the plan to get rid of Clay was a plan with him as the target. Both members were blindsided, and he won the final Immunity Challenge and voted off Jan, taking Clay with him to the Final Tribal Council.

Both Brian and Clay were met with heavy criticism from the Jury. Brian, who had made separate alliances and formed friendships with both Helen and Ted, was lambasted for his callous gameplay, but he was praised for his challenge performances and strong work ethic. In comparison, Clay was felt as not deserving for his lack of work ethic, and he was accused of making racial slurs against Ted. In the end, the Jury voted, with three of the four Sook Jai members voted for Clay and all three Chuay Gahn members, plus Jake voted for Brian, making Brian as the fifth Sole Survivor.

Episode Guide
 Notes: 


 * In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.


 * In Episode 11, the castaways' loved ones competed in the challenge. Additionally, the loved ones returned to participate in the Immunity Challenge, where Ted's brother helped him to win it.

Trivia

 * This season marks the first time that Jeff Probst has been unable to read a vote. In the episode "Gender Bender", Clay cast a vote for Ghandia that read, "Bye Bye Denver Diva." Probst actually had to ask whoever cast the vote to explain who it was for.
 * This was the first time that the jury phase began before the merge.
 * First time on the logo that the outer oval that contains Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast is not black.
 * This season 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 Survivor: One World.