Survivor: Thailand - Season Summary

Season Summary

The game began with the contestants being brought to the island in two boats, with all the men in one and the women in the other. This led the contestants to assume that the tribes would be divided by gender, for the first time. However, this was wrong. Instead, Jake and Jan, as the two eldest contestants, were given the opportunity to select their own tribes; this was the first time in series history that the tribes were not preselected. Jan picked the orange buff, Chuay Gahn, while Jake selected the purple buff, Sook Jai. While Jake selected many of the younger and more athletic contestants, Jan chose most of the older players. Both beaches had advantages and disadvantages. The Chuay Gahn campsite had a large cave that was habitable, thus negating the need to build a shelter; however, their water source was quite far and required them to row their boat a distance. On the other hand, Sook Jai's water source was only located a couple of feet from camp, but they needed build their own shelter, as there was no cave.

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. However, in spite of their internal turmoil, Sook Jai took an early lead in the tribal challenges, winning 5 of the first 7 challenges. However, Chuay Gahn remained a close tribe, for the most part.

Unity at Chuay Gahn was threatened, when Ted had made sexual advances while cuddling with Ghandia, which had made her feel uncomfortable. Hoping to use the opportunity to make an alliance, Ghandia rallied the two other women of the tribe, Jan and Helen, and tried to convince them to join forces against the three other males in the tribe. However, Helen went with the men at the next Tribal Council and voted out Ghandia, who was perceived as the bad apple. After that, Chuay Gahn was able to regain their momentum and unity and were able to even the tribes at 5-5 by Day 18.

On Day 19, the two tribes were gathered together at a beach and were told to go off in pairs, one person from each tribe, and get to know one person from the other tribe. Two of the pairs received instructions to visit one of the tribes' campsites to evaluate which campsite would be more suitable to live at. Once each of the pairs were gathered together again, they were informed that the two tribes would, from that point on live together on the same beach. They selected Chuay Gahn's beach, and the contestants quickly assumed a merge had occurred. Shii Ann, who had been feeling ostracized by Sook Jai, quickly aired all their dirty laundry, and she agreed to vote with Chuay Gahn to eliminate Penny, who she felt had been the most antagonistic towards her. However, when the two tribes gathered for the next Immunity Challenge, they were shocked to learn that they were still two tribes about to compete for tribal immunity. Chuay Gahn won the challenge, Shii Ann was voted out for her treachery, and for the first time, Sook Jai had less members than Chuay Gahn. Despite being tightly knit, Sook Jai's downward spiral continued as they lost immunity for the fourth consecutive time, and the tribe tearfully sent Erin to the jury, as the first member.

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 since Day 12. 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 2.

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 approach, 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 4-3 for Brian to win, awarding him for his control of the game.