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The Tribes
Chuay Gahn
Color/ namesake: orange/ Thai for "to help others"
Members: Brian Heidik, Clay Jordan, Ghandia Johnson, Helen Glover, Jan Gentry, John Raymond, Tanya Vance, Ted Rogers Jr.
- The Ace: They got pretty lucky winning more immunity challenges, even if they lost a good number of rewards.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Handily took down the Sook Jai in the end.
- Gray-and-Gray Morality: Instantly portrayed at the villains, but not to an even degree.
- Horrible Judge of Character: They never come close to figuring out Brian can't be trusted.
Sook Jai
Color/ namesake: purple/ Thai for "happy heart"
Members: Erin Collins, Jake Billingsley, Jed Hildebrand, Ken Stafford, Penny Ramsey, Robb Zbacnik, Shii Ann Huang, Stephanie Dill
- A House Divided: First Jed, Robb, and Stephanie were immediately odds for seeming laziness and immaturity. The tribe threw at least one challenge just to get rid of them. Next, the remaining members managed to find new conflicts despite clear outcasts being gone. Lastly, the fake merge some of them try to associate with the Chuay Gahns, who ultimately couldn't save them. It cost each one of them their position in the game.
- Dwindling Party: It started with the fake merge, and it only got worse when only three members made it to the real merge.
- Failure Hero: How they ended up.
- Five-Man Band: The core members worked like this:
- The Hero: Jake Billingsley; who assembled and led them. He was also the last one sent home.
- The Lancer: Penny Ramsey; the general informant for the group.
- The Smart Guy: Shii Ann Huang; the closest thing Sook Jai had to a strategist.
- The Big Guy: Ken Stafford; the muscle whenever Jake was not enough. He was also more down-to-earth and skilled at mediation.
- The Heart: Erin Collins, who tried to avoid drama at all cost and was close to Penny and Jake.
- Purple Is Powerful: Subverted. They started strong but ultimately lost challenges near the merge. This cost them the numbers advantage and they were pagonged.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: They never fully got along, but did win most of the rewards.
- Too Dumb to Live: They started fine, and clearly stronger than Chuay Gahn. But internal conflicts and plain bad luck (winning more rewards than immunities, the fake merge) torpedoed their chances.
Chuay Jai
Color/ namesake: yellow/ Chuay from Chuay Gahn, Jai from Sook Jai
Members: Brian Heidik, Clay Jordan, Helen Glover, Jan Gentry, Jake Billingsley, Ken Stafford, Penny Ramsey, Ted Rogers Jr.
The merged tribe.- Curb-Stomp Battle: Within the tribe, the remainders of Sook Jai were dispatched almost immediately. The true drama was ultimately between the remnants of Chuay Gahn. Also, Brian Heidik didn't exactly have a hard time winning this season.
Finalists
1st. Brian Heidik
Age/ home/ job: 34/ Quartz Hill, California/ used car salesperson
Luxury item: guitar
Tribe: Chuay Gahn -> Chuay Jai
- Accidental Misnaming: Cannot remember Shii Ann's name and calls her "Soo-Yin" and "Sin-Jo" in the same sentence. This especially glaring when A) Ted had just said right before he started talking, and 2) he was an absolute control freak who was treating her favor as the most important thing.
- The Ace: He is the first winner of the final immunity challenge to win the game, as well as the first winner to also win the most individual immunity challenges in a season.
- Affably Evil: Nice to his tribemates and off the show, but absolutely has no qualms with backstabbing them.
- Badass Boast: The infamous "Mr. Freeze" confessional on how has teammates could not read the real him. He wasn't wrong.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Granted, for a medium-limited definition "bad guy".
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Most of his actual strategy was hidden from his fellow contestants. To them, he was more of a working class Big Brother Mentor. To him, they were pawns on his chessboard.
- Beard of Evil: As a huge antagonist and due to the limit shaving resources on the show.
- Beneath the Mask: One of his more impressive strategies. A lot of players have said that it's impossible to play a character on Survivor, as the experience is so draining that it's just too much effort to be anyone but yourself. Brian was able to flawlessly present himself as a humble, kind and compassionate middle-class guy throughout the entire game, while his confessionals showed a much more ruthless and cutthroat side to him. The only person who really saw Brian for what he was is Helen's husband, whose warnings fell on deaf ears.
- Born Winner: Once Helen was blindsided at the Final Four, there was absolutely no competition for him at the finals.
- The Charmer: Part of his strategy was making sure he avoided getting particularly deep into anyone's bad side.
- The Chessmaster: About maybe, 1 or 2 times something doesn't go his way. The rest? Exactly as planned.
- Evil Gloating: His infamous "Mr. Freeze" confessional.
- Freudian Slip: When he accidentally flipped off Clay as he counted down on his fingers how his Evil Plan was falling into place.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Clay. With most of his tribe, really.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He tried to shoot a puppy with a bow and arrow! Somewhat subverted though, as it turns out that he thought it was a rodent.
- Manipulative Bastard: Somehow (must be his used car salesman charm) he managed to create a web of Final Two deals with everyone on his tribe, with everyone trusting him to honor the deal and no one double-checking with other members to make sure that Brian wasn't double-dipping. That's impressive.
- Nothing Personal: Brian more than once refers to his time in the game as simply a business trip.
- No-Damage Run: Played probably the most flawless game of Survivor up to that point, whether you liked him or not. The only time he stumbled even a little was at the jury questioning, and even then it was with the people whose votes he didn't even need.
- Oh, Crap!: The only time in the game where he looks worried is when he and his tribe watch his wife's video and she shows off their mansion, grand piano and two luxury cars while saying they'll use the winnings to go on a luxury vacation, blowing the entire facade he had presented to his tribemates.
- Ominous Walk: There are several challenges where he has such a strong lead that he just walks to the finish.
- Out of Focus: Odds are people probably didn't really take notice of Brian in the first couple episodes, right up until he says in a confessional that things in Chuay Gahn have "reverted to the good old days" with the women in domestic roles.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Helen, Ted, Clay and Jan's Red Onis. Brian discusses several times the importance of staying calm, cool and collected and just listening to what the more passionate people are saying.
- Self-Deprecation: In a post-game interview, his sole piece of advice for future players is that they shouldn't play like him.
- Sexist Used Car Salesman: Well, he is sexist and also a used car salesman.
- Showy Invincible Player: Didn't receive a single vote against him throughout the game and won the final three immunity challenges of the season, making him untouchable until the Final Tribal Council vote. Additionally, as Helen remarked when voting for him, there were tribe challenges in the earlier parts of the game that Chuay Gahn won largely because of Brian's efforts alone.
- Slimeball: To a proverbial tee.
- Smug Super
- The Sociopath: Or at least that's how he was portrayed. There are hints of this throughout the season that are tricky to pick up on in a first viewing, but the point at which it really became noticeable was when it came time for him to turn on his former allies. He had Ted and Helen ousted without hesitation or remorse, and he brought Clay to the final two for strategic purposes more than anything. Their friendships meant nothing to him. It was just business for Brian.
- Sole Survivor: The winner of Survivor: Thailand.
- The Strategist: One of the few contestants whom viewers saw enacting a game plan regularly throughout the season. It came through both in the way he presented himself as a helpful, supportive contributor at the camp and in the various one-on-one alliances he situated with people like Clay, Helen, and Ted, convincing the latter two that he was looking out for them right up until the votes they were eliminated on and taking the former to the finals because he figured Clay was perceived by enough people as either a Lazy Bum or aggravating personality to make him look better in comparison.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: The players knew him as a friendly and humble guy who worked hard at camp and entertained them by playing guitar. The viewers knew him as a very cold and logical man who only saw his enemies as cannon fodder and his so-called friends as weapons.
- Tattooed Crook
- Übermensch
- The Unfettered
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: When Brian won a Reward Challenge to have an elephant trek through the Thai countryside (followed by a big lunch), Clay remarks with some laughter in his voice how scared Brian is of falling off.
- Villain Protagonist
2nd. Clay(ton) Jordan (III)
Age/ home/ job: 46/ Monroe, Louisiana/ restaurant owner
Luxury item: golf club and ball
Tribe: Chuay Gahn -> Chuay Gai
- Cool Old Guy
- Deadpan Snarker
- Determinator
- Fatal Flaw: He tends to lash out at people when they aggravate him. He did just that to Jake (the one Sook Jai that didn't vote for him) at the jury questioning.
- Fetish: He has a thing for asses.
- Grumpy Old Man: Bordering on misanthropy.
- Jerkass: Almost certainly brought to the final two by Brian because nobody liked Clay or thought he deserved the million in the slightest.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On the other hand, Clay took an active interest in all of the ex-Sook Jai members when the two tribes merged, unlike Brian. While this was undoubtedly only due to strategy (all three of the votes he received to win during the Final Tribal Council came from ex-Sook Jais), at least he tried to know who each of them was. When it came to the Final Jury questioning, while neither came off well, Clay at the very least was able to pass Penny's "what do you know about me" question with flying colors whereas Brian failed in a completely embarrassing fashion.
- Lazy Bum
- Malicious Slander: Clay was accused of potentially being a racist during the Final Tribal Council by Big Ted. Of course, Clay is going to deny this, but given all the other accusations levelled against him by the jury (that he's lazy, a jerk, a liar, etc.), he doesn't come off looking too well. Ted indicated during an interview though that it was in fact Helen that told him Clay uttered a racial epithet, and given Helen's intense dislike of Clay (she also accused him of being a sexist earlier in the game based on nothing in particular), this accusation comes off more a form of petty payback by Helen then something with any weight to it.
- Mistaken for Racist: Some fans actually believed that he might have been one, despite the unreliability of Helen's testimony.
- The Napoleon
- The Nicknamer: "
Bye, Bye Denver Diva" - Odd Friendship: With Brian
- The Pawn: Somewhat subverted (though in the end played straight) in that Clay knew he was a pawn of Brian's and tried to invoke feelings of resentment towards Brian from the jury. He didn't win, but he got three votes, so how bad could he have been?
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: With Jake.
- He and Jan didn't get along in the first half of the season, with Jan criticizing Clay for being a Lazy Bum and Clay being very annoyed by Jan's Cloud Cuckoolander tendencies, which was soon overshadowed by the arrival of the Sook-Jai members.
- Self-Deprecation: While Clay can be pretty harsh to some of his comrades during confessionals, he's not above making fun of himself either.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Starts the season as a likable, cheery guy, but as the game progresses he becomes more and more blunt and misanthropic.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Jan to a degree. While Clay isn't really best buds with her, his tongue lashings against Jan in the confessionals belie the general friendliness he shows to her back at camp. He also seemed to like Ted despite Ted severely disliking Clay.
- Younger Than They Look: He certainly doesn't look like he's only 46.
- Lampshaded by Clay himself in the second to last episode. A full-length mirror appears at the Chuay Gahn camp after the tribe gets back from collecting shellfish, and Clay remarks with some surprise "I look... sixty."
The Jury
3rd. Jan Gentry
Age/ home/ job: 53/ Tampa, Florida/ teacher
Luxury item: unknown
Tribe: Chuay Gahn -> Chuay Gai
- Cloud Cuckoolander
- Cool Old Lady
- Lady Drunk: As well as Jan herself, her friends and family who couldn't attend the Reunion show were all seen at a pub celebrating her third-place finish.Jeff: Where else would they be?
- Manchild: Particularly her reaction to the bidding challenge ("see ya, wouldn' wanna be ya!"), as well as finding a dead baby bat on the beach.
- My Tribe Right or Wrong: Said she would sink or swim with her tribe in the fifth episode.
- The Pawn: All but referred to by Brian as one.
- Sanity Slippage: During the animal graveyard scenes, at least.
- Younger Than They Look: She looked like a senior citizen back when she was competing in Thailand. She was actually only 52 years old at the time.
4th. Helen Glover
Age/ home/ job: 47/ Middletown, Rhode Island/ U.S. navy swim teacher
Luxury item: child's doll
Tribe: Chuay Gahn -> Chuay Gai
- Boring, but Practical: Clay called her this, with different phrasing ("personality of an encyclopedia").
- Deadpan Snarker: With a huge emphasis on deadpan. And on snarker.
- Et Tu, Brute?: As well as happening to her, she quoted that in her speech against Brian at the Final Tribal Council.
- Happily Married: It was obvious in the episode her husband appeared.
- Only Sane Man: While she was the only relatively sane person in her alliance, her husband who won the loved one's visit (he got to hang out with Chuay Jai for twenty-four hours) was also one. He observes right away that Brian is the one who's really controlling the tribe, and he tries to convince Helen to listen to him and vote Brian out. She doesn't listen.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives the mother of all speeches to Brian at the Final Tribal Council.
- Unwitting Pawn: She was sadly "strung along" by Brian the entire time, only be duped and dumped at the final four.
- Woman Scorned: A non-romantic example to Brian.
- Worthy Opponent: Was the only person who stood any chance against Brian.
5th. "Big" Ted Rogers Jr.
Age/ home/ job: 37/ Durham, North Carolina/ software developer
Luxury item: shaving kit
Tribe: Chuay Gahn -> Chuay Jai
- Bald Head of Toughness: Used a shaving kit for his head, not his face.
- The Big Guy: They call him "Big" Ted for a reason.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: While Big Ted says that he never drank alcohol before, the first time he did, he became totally plastered.
- Genius Bruiser: A computer programmer back home.
- Gentle Giant: You can see him getting a little misty-eyed during Chuay Gahn's first vote, and when his tribe was planning to cook one of the chickens after the merge, Ted couldn't handle it (since he saw the chickens as pets) and went further down the beach to exercise.
- Large Ham: When he got drunk for the first time.
- Happily Married: According to him, he's "150-200% satisfied" with her as well.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Big Ted.
- The Pawn: He was the first one that Brian cut loose when all the Sook Jai members were gone.
- The Teetotaler: Ted comments more than once that he abstains from alcohol, except of course for that one time.
6th. Jake Billingsley
Age/ home/ job: 60/ McKinney, Texas/ land broker
Luxury item: journal and pen
Tribe: Sook Jai -> Chuay Jai
- Blatant Lies: In one episode he told stories about his life that would make even Coach Wade shake his head.
- Cool Old Guy: The oldest contestant of the season and voted the most popular of the season.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: In one episode before Sook Jai went to Tribal Council (at this point there were only four Sook Jais left, and they all seemed pretty close to each other), Penny suggested that whoever the three that were left should all sleep together that night, and Jake suddenly blurts out "That sounds almost erotic". Either this comes off as hilarious or as Squick depending on your point of view.
- In-Series Nickname: The Chuay Gahn members started calling him "Jake the Snake" post-merge because he attempted to find some way to keep in the game.
- Noodle Incident: We don't get to hear about the adventures that Jake has had over the years (in the episodes where he told stories about his life), but one of them apparently involves something happening in the middle of an airport.
- Team Dad: To Sook Jai in a big, big, big way.
- Worthy Opponent: The Chuay Gahns admit this by the time he's gone.
7th. Penny Ramsey
Age/ home/ job: 27/ Plano, Texas/ pharmacy salesperson
Luxury item: Pajamas
Tribe: Sook Jai -> Chuay Jai
- Alpha Bitch
- Backstab Backfire: See the Quisling below
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: According to many of her castmates, including Ken, Shii Ann, and most of Chuay Gahn.
- Gossipy Hen: According to certain members of Sook Jai.
- Hypocrite Took great delight in whacking other players at the kneecaps. When it was her turn, as evidenced by the way she set down her torch to be snuffed, she was as far from a Graceful Loser as anyone could get.
- Jerkass: Her rivalry with Shii-Ann bordered on racism.
- The Quisling: Tried to turn on Jake to keep herself in. It didn't work.
- Small Name, Big Ego: As the game progressed, her opinion of herself only inflated despite having done nothing to show for it.
- Those Two Girls: With Erin
8th. Ken(neth) Stafford
Age/ home/ job: 29/ New York, New York/ cop
Luxury item: NYPD shield
Tribe: Sook Jai -> Chuay Jai
- Big Brother Mentor: To Robb. In Episode 6, after a quarrel over a misunderstanding, Ken takes Robb under his wing and becomes this to him, teaching Robb how to better relate to his tribe. This calmed down the normally very unpredictable Robb into having an epiphany about himself and suddenly becoming much nicer to his tribemates.
- The Big Guy: Of Sook Jai. Standing 6'5", Ken is still one of the tallest people to play the game.
- Heroic Build
- Mr. Fanservice
- Only Sane Man: Incredibly level-headed and logical, and not prone to the weirder quirks of basically anyone else left at that point.
- Out of Focus: Almost invisible until episode six and his quarrel with Robb. But he at least gets more screentime then on.
- Worthy Opponent: To Brian. Ken saw Brian for what he was and warned Jake not to trust the used car salesman. In turn, the night of the fake merge Brian took Ted aside and warned him to watch out for Ken. Once the tribes merged Ken was eliminated immediately, likely because he was by far the biggest threat to Brian's dominance.
9th. Erin Collins
Age/ home/ job: 26/ Austin, Texas/ real estate agent
Luxury item: body paint
Tribe: Sook Jai
- Ms. Fanservice: Defied. Erin chose to wear her shirt over her bikini top at all times specifically to avoid being this.
- Out of Focus: Tried her hardest to avoid the drama engulfing her tribe.
- Power Hair
- Those Two Girls: With Penny
Voted Out
10th. Shii Ann Huang
Age/ home/ job: 28/ New York, New York/ executive recruiter
Luxury item: travel bag
Tribe: Sook Jai
- All of the Other Reindeer: Never feels like she belongs in Sook Jai, which fuels her failed attempt to turn on them.
- Backstab Backfire: One of the most infamous in Survivor history.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially with Robb.
- May-December Crush: In one interview, Shii Ann expressed having a small crush on Jake, who is at least thirty years older than her.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Even before being picked to join Sook Jai, she wore purple clothing.
- Oh, Crap!: Tried to turn on Sook Jai post-merge... only to learn that there hadn't been a merge yet.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Robb. Amusingly, both got called back to host the pre-show for the next season.
- The Quisling: Shii Ann attempted to be this and would have succeeded if it were not for the fake merge.
- Token Minority: Shii Ann was the first Asian-American to ever be cast on the show, and the only one on this season.
- The Unfavorite: Believed she was this of the five remaining Sook Jai.
11th. Robert "Robb" Zbacnik
Age/ home/ job: 23/ Scottsdale, Arizona/ bartender
Luxury item: skateboard
Tribe: Sook Jai
- The Big Guy
- Boisterous Bruiser: Might not be the most helpful around camp, but will take any excuse to go apeshit in a challenge.
- Coming of Age Story: His final episode.
- Crying Wolf: See Funny Background Event
- Dumb Muscle: More "immature" muscle, but he's still the Sook Jai most likely to make a stupid decision.
- Dumbass Has a Point: The reason he took a skateboard to a beach was because his first two suggestions for luxury item had already been taken. When he was informed of this, he sarcastically asked "What am i supposed to bring, a skateboard?". The producers wound up giving him one for the trip.
- Funny Background Event: When the rest of Sook Jai is distracted via goofing around near the shoreline, Robb slightly farther back in the ocean is screaming and then collapses, submerging into it. He got bit on the foot by a stingray, but due to Robb's loud nature, no one noticed until they noticed on land that he was bleeding.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: He had an epiphany about his behavior but was still voted out in the episode he had it.
- Jerk Jock: How Sook Jai typically perceived him. The big question on his last day not "will he think of a way to stay in the game?" but "how will he react when we finally kick him out?".
- Large Ham: This and his youthful impulsiveness are the defining aspects of his personality, at least on the show.
- Lazy Bum: To a degree, but not as badly as his allies Jed and Stephanie.
- Never My Fault: After the infamous 'Attack Zone' challenge, angry Robb screams: "We lost just by bunch of rules!". Not that he got violent, got disqualified, and lead others on to act the same.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Shii-Ann; every single one of his votes went to her. He also hated Clay after Jeff Probst disqualified Robb for choking him in the aforementioned Attack Zone challenge.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome
- Vision Quest: The day before his boot he goes on a hike with Ken. The beauty of the landscape along with a bit of wisdom from Ken makes him realize what's truly important in his life and that there is more to life than partying. He spends the night drinking with his tribe and the most aggressive and obnoxious player in the season finally gels with them. When they vote him off the night evening they seem sorry to see him go but he leaves the game in good spirits intending to live a better life.
12th. Stephanie Dill
Age/ home/ job: 29/ Ozark, Arkansas/ firefighter
Luxury item: fuzzy slippers
Tribe: Chuay Gahn
- Girlish Pigtails: Wears these often
- Lazy Bum: Why she was alligned with Jed and Robb.
- Naked People Are Funny: In her audition video, she was naked.
- Out of Focus: Stephanie didn't do much during her time on the show because of her sickness.
- The Quiet One
13th. Ghandia Johnson
Age/ home/ job: 33/ Denver, Colorado/ legal secretary
Luxury item: lucky keychain
Tribe: Chuay Gahn
- Dude, Not Funny!: Her reaction to John's joke about Chuay Gahn's water source.
- Four Is Death: Fourth one out and had voted votes against her.
14th. Jed Hildebrand
Age/ home/ job: 25/ Dallas, Texas/ dental student
Luxury item: frisbee
Tribe: Sook Jai
- Lazy Bum: According to his tribe.
- Mr. Fanservice
- Out of Focus: Not as badly as many examples, but definitely there. Granted part of this is...
- We Hardly Knew Ye: The first person in the "lesser screentime tribe" eliminated.
15th. Tanya Vance
Age/ home/ job: 27/ Gray, Tennessee/ social worker
Luxury item: hairbrush
Tribe: Chuay Gahn
- Disappeared Dad: He died shortly after Tanya left to compete on the show.
- The Ingenue: Tanya probably belongs to the Survivor Ingénue archetype. She seemed to be cast for the innocent sweetheart role.
- Ms. Fanservice
- Nice Girl: Well-liked by her tribe, voted out only because of her illness.
16th. John Raymond
Age/ home/ job: 40/ Slidell, Louisiana/ pastor
Luxury item: Christian flag
Tribe: Chuay Gahn
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: At the Reunion, Jeff Probst comments on how John was probably the most well-prepared first boot ever (for surviving in the wild), and he says that on any other season John probably could have done much better.
- Pointy-Haired Boss: His tribe voted him off for being too bossy.
- Two First Names
