The Windows To My Escape Are Closing

The Windows to My Escape Are Closing is the ninth episode of Survivor: Thailand.

Day 24 (Night)
Once again, the Chuay Gahn four wait up around the fire for Sook Jai to return from tribal council. The group speculate whether it is Estan or Phillip who has been voted out, knowing that the likelihood of any of the other three leaving is close to impossible.

Minutes later, Sook Jai walk back into camp without Estan, receiving hugs from Chuay Gahn who try to act somewhat surprised by their decision.

The group get prepared to sleep, having short conversations about the vote, whilst also congratulating one another on the confirmation that they have all at least made it to the jury.

Day 25
In the early hours of the afternoon, Ricardo, Karen and Aaron set off in order to collect water for the tribe, leaving the others back at camp to sit around, with no tree mail giving any indication of a challenge or a merge. Kanda and Phillip lay inside the cave, discussing the constant boredom waiting for the merge to occur. Phillip also begins to question Kanda over her position within Sook Jai, noting that Karen and Ricardo are a close pair, and that she will be voted out should they lose two more immunity challenges.

Salma, Vince and Julius stand in the water together laying out the fishing net. As the trio head further into the ocean to lay out the net, Salma loses her grip, causing the net to somewhat drift forward, almost being lost if not for the quick reactions from the two men.

The group are forced to head back to beach, fearing that any further attempts may result in the net being lost completely. As they place the net down, Julius mutters under his breath whilst Salma apologises, feeling irritated that her slip up may have cost the tribe the chance of getting fish for the day, as the tide now comes further in and the waters less steady.

Julius begins to untangle the net, with his comments leaving both Vince and Salma confused, unsure whether he is joking or truly annoyed with Salma. Salma asks Julius what he's talking about, causing him to reply "it doesn't matter".

Julius tells Salma to "forget about it", apologising if he upset her before heading back towards the cave. Vince looks at Salma and shrugs, clearly baffled by the behaviour of his closest ally.

Vince and Salma head back into the water, hoping to prove Julius' sudden outburst wrong. Out further in the water, Ricardo, Karen and Aaron reach the island that contains the groups water source. After collecting the water, Ricardo questions Aaron on his thoughts over Estan's exit. Aaron attempts to react nonchalantly, showing little to no care in the fact Estan has left the game.

Later on in the late afternoon, Salma and Vince return to camp after a long day fishing, having successfully managed to catch two medium sized fish despite Julius' doubts. The entire group congratulate the pair, leaving Ricardo and Julius to clean and prepare the meal for the camp. Julius apologises for his comments, which Salma accepts, cementing the apology with a hug between the pair.

Day 26
The tribe begin their day with Karen bringing tree mail back for the tribe, lowering their spirits by reading what sounds like another tribal challenge. Both tribes of four begin preparing themselves, believing that which ever tribe loses will be down to just three members after the next tribal council.

Reward
The final eight arrive at the reward challenge, separating into their two tribes as they sit down on the floor. Jeff begins by telling the tribes that they will be playing for love from home, but in the form of a video rather than having their family on the island. He goes on to speak of the tribes assumption that eventually a merge would come, putting an end to the assumptions with the revelation of eight gold coloured buffs. The group break into cheers and hugs upon the announcement of the merge, glad to have made this later than usual milestone in the game. Once the group has settled down, they are randomly paired up for the challenge, facing off against other pairs until only one of them is left to claim the reward. Before the challenge begins, each contestant is shown a twenty-second long teaser of their video.

Challenge: Wicker Ball Relay

Pairing up, each group of Survivors would race through an obstacle course, with various tasks to perform along the way. First team to successfully complete the course and cross the finish line wins and moves on to the next heat. This continued until the final round, where the last remaining pair would compete against each other on a puzzle. The first person to complete the puzzle would win reward.

Reward: A video of the winner's loved ones from home.

Winner: Ricardo

Merged Tribe
The group return to camp after the reward challenge, somewhat grateful for all being given a short snippet of their loved ones, whilst also trying to seem happy for Ricardo after his win. Having finally merged after waiting six days longer than usual, the final eight all seem in high spirits, now knowing that the game is individual, without the shackles of tribe boundaries. "chuayjai"

- After twenty-six days I think we were all a little fed up with our original tribes. I picked mine, and I just wanted to get away from them all. It's strange because even though we've been living together, we've still been playing as two tribes so there hasn't been a sense that we're all free to do what we want. Any conversations you have with people from Sook Jai had to be careful and meticulously worded so that both they and your own tribe couldn't use it against you. Now we're all wearing gold, there's no sense of tribal disloyalty, and it's all individual from here on out.

Straight away the tribe get to painting their tribe flag, also coming up with a name for their new tribe. Ricardo, Kanda, Karen and Julius do most of the decorating for the flag, whilst the others get on with chores so that the group can relax later in the day and celebrate the start of the individual game. "chuayjai"

- So we've come up with the name Chuay Jai for the new tribe. It was literally just a combination of both the old tribe names... evidently the creativity in our group doesn't go much further than a portmanteau. I had half expected at least one of us to know a Thai phrase or something that sounded a bit better. But I mean whatever, I'll stick with it.

Whilst painting the tribe flag, the four decorators talk about both the reward challenge and their lives back home, having been reminded of them through the videos.

"chuayjai"

- After the challenge, I felt slightly bugged out by Ricardo. He's already painted a target on himself by seemingly being the strongest player from Sook Jai, and he's let that be known without any consideration that it could be used against him... so to have him go on and win today, then complain that winning made him feel worse. It just seemed really ungrateful. He then went on and on about his friends back home, telling story after story about crazy nights in his bar or when he went out with his friends, and I just thought 'if being reminded about them makes it harder for you. Why do you keep talking about it...'. It also didn't help that he decided to slightly take jibes at me during the painting session too...

Ricardo continues to question Julius on his supposed wealth, much to Julius' annoyance, knowing it is going to (intentionally or not) place a target on his back over the coming days. Julius gives short responses to the questions, allowing the conversation to run dry so that he isn't quizzed any further on his financial situation. "chuayjai"

- Seeing my friends today on the video was amazing, because it reminded me that outside this crazy, horrible, amazing game, that there are people who I care about and people who really have my best interest at heart. The challenge was also pretty good in showing us all a little bit of information on one another, and in particular we all got to see that Julius isn't exactly struggling to put food on his table. The man has money, and I should've guessed because his makeup at the start was gorgeous and you don't get gorgeous cheap makeup. I've known these last few days that I don't trust Julius as a player anymore after information came to light, so this new layer to his character only gives us more ammunition to use against him at this next tribal council, which we now know will involve the eight of us voting together for the first time.

Phillip and Aaron stay together whilst completing their chores, knowing they need to talk to one another now that the merge has officially been confirmed. The duo both speak about their seemingly poor position within the factions of their old tribes, knowing that had either lost another tribal immunity that they would likely have been the next to join the jury.

Getting no nearer to a definite answer, the pair agree to leave the discussion for the following day, wanting to wait until nearer tribal to find out where others are thinking of sending their votes.

"chuayjai"

- Phillip and I both know that should we stay with our tribes completely, that we'll just be out before the end and regarded as followers. We hold no real power at this stage in the game, unless we decide to make a move now. He and I have agreed to put our trust in each other, and to try and form something to get us to the end. I want to avoid flipping on Chuay Gahn and going solely with Sook Jai, because it'll show me out to be a rat, and I'll lose all respect needed to win this game. Thankfully, Phillip seems to be more open to the idea, so if there is a flip needed I know he's the one confident enough to pull it off. Ideally though, we'll be able to pull in two or three individuals from both sides to create a new core alliance.

Later on in the evening, the group sit together and celebrate the merge over a basic meal of steamed clams, all excited to take part in the first individual immunity challenge of the season the following day.

Day 27
The final eight gather their things in order to head to the first individual immunity challenge, knowing that for once they will only rely on themselves to win safety from tribal council. "chuayjai"

- I don't know if I am in any danger tonight. I know my own tribe don't like me, and I think Chuay Gahn knows that. The ironic thing is I think all of this comes together to mean winning today isn't important for me, because I'm in a position where I now act as a swing vote for both tribes.

"chuayjai"

- Going into this challenge the one person I don't want to see win is Ricardo, because he's ideally the person I'll be targeting when we get down to the vote tonight. I'd like to win myself, because no one wants to be vulnerable at tribal council regardless of how safe they may feel... and after the way Ricardo spoke about me yesterday, I can only assume that my name may be passed around tonight.

Challenge: Thai Numbers

The Survivors had to compete in a mathematical test. First, a simple elimination round tested the Survivors' memory skills, matching Thai numbers with numbers in English. The second round requires problem solving, using Thai numbers as coordinates, the contestants had to find ten buried tiles. Each uncovered tile revealed the location of the next tile. The first contestant to recover all ten of their tiles wins immunity.

Winner: Karen Chuay Jai return to camp, with Karen now wearing the individual immunity necklace, guaranteeing her safety through to the final seven. The four men who went out in the first round laugh at the result, admitting that they weren't ready for such a difficult test of memory at this stage of the game. "chuayjai"

- The result of the challenge was unfortunate in that I went out in the first round. Thankfully Ricardo also got the question wrong so I knew at that point I didn't need to worry about him going on to win. All I need to do now is assure my tribe that the four of us are strong together, and work on getting Phillip to join us in voting Ricardo.

The three ex-Chuay Gahn males stand together in the cave as they place their things away, using the time alone to quickly assert between themselves that Ricardo is their target.

"chuayjai"

- Vince and Julius did the standard huddle and quickly come up with a final plan chat in the cave. They've confirmed that the Chuay Gahn target tonight will be Ricardo, which makes sense given he's the leader of those left from Sook Jai. They asked me to do the dirty work in getting Phillip to flip over to us, which I already know I can do because of conversations he and I have had the past few days. What they're unaware of is I'm not just going to follow their plans at this stage, and I'm looking to take the control that the two of them have been enjoying for some time. Phillip and Salma are the two people I really want to speak with tonight... because like me they're not binded to another player like everyone else is on this tribe. Only after speaking with them will I decide whether or not my vote is going to Ricardo.

Aaron heads down to the water where the other five are bathing, just missing out on a conversation started by Ricardo, in which he is speaking of the benefits in voting for Julius.

"chuayjai"

- If we are to get past the clear split in the tribe tonight and avoid another tie, both sides need to work on convincing someone to flip. Chuay Gahn's only hope is to concentrate on Phillip, whereas we have both Salma and Aaron as an option because of how they've been outside of Vince and Julius' pairing. I think it does give us a slight advantage. The arguments we have around his behaviour, game play and being without need of the money does make me think we have a real shot here to get him out...

Ricardo repeats his arguments for voting off Julius to Aaron, hoping to get through to him that as a six they can control the game, and get rid of Julius and Vince at the next two tribal councils. "chuayjai"

- Ricardo's arguments and the way he put them forward really sold me over to his side. If Salma and myself both join the vote, there's no reason that she and I can't get Phillip and make a strong three, and eventually pull in either Vince or Kanda once Julius has gone home. It's almost as though by pitching what can get rid of Julius tonight, that Ricardo has shown me a clear path to get myself and Phillip to the final two. A final two where I think the only outcome is my victory... because there's no way these people would vote Phillip over me.

One by one, the ex-Sook Jai members eventually head back to the camp, leaving Salma and Aaron alone in the water to discuss the vote. Both admit they see value in the plan, but Salma remains hesitant, feeling as though it weakens her personal position. "chuayjai"

- I have had my own personal problems with Julius the past few days, and I have considered voting him out of this game tonight after how he's been playing. I am worried that a wealth argument is being used against Julius, as after him I believe I'm the next on the financial scale that Ricardo is so heavily invested in... Another factor against this plan that has been set up is that I don't see how it benefits my game dramatically. I think it very well could take me to the final four or three, but so does sticking with Chuay Gahn... and I can get to the final four there without looking like a traitor. I'm not convinced that taking this risk tonight is how I'll win this game... but I don't want to sit back and let this opportunity pass, only to regret it in three or six days time.

With tribal drawing closer, Phillip and Aaron get together to discuss the vote and finalise their decision, still unsure whether to take out Julius or Ricardo. They try and weigh up the implications of both votes, opting to go for whatever seems more beneficial for creating an alliance after the result.

"chuayjai"

- The last two tribal councils I've seen my closest friends in the game go home, and now the tables have completely turned, this time on the two people who thought they were running this game. I think the smart decision here would be to take out Julius because it does give us the chance to create an alliance to move forward with once he's gone, but a lot of that rests on Vince being somewhat understanding. However, my heart is firmly set on taking out Ricardo, because he's someone I've been battling against in this game for a while now, and I want to make sure that I win the battle that he started. I know I will... I just need to decide if I can wait a few more days for the battle to end, or if I want to call it a day with him now.

At tribal council, the newly merged Chuay Jai tribe begin with standard political responses to Jeff's questions, not wanting to give too much away about the groups game play beyond the obvious 4-4 split in tribe numbers. Ricardo mentions that he expects to get votes, but that he has pitched the case to take out "a big threat", and hopes that others will look beyond tribal lines when making their decisions for an "individual game". Vince talks about the fractures within Sook Jai, feeling that if the vote is a 4-4 tie, that Phillip has too easily forgiven the people that would have voted him out had they lost again. The other three Sook Jai members speak up to deny this, claiming that Chuay Gahn would've done the same to Salma or Aaron, and that their tribe has been nothing more than Vince and Julius calling the shots. During the commotion, Salma leans over to Aaron and whispers in his ear, which he responds to with a nod and a quick facial gesture towards Phillip. Julius catches Aaron sending signals to Phillip and impulsively decides to put him on the spot.

After several more minutes on the topic of certain individuals needing to flip on their tribes, the first merged vote is commenced, with each member writing their vote in confidence without any signs of hesitation. As Jeff collects the urn, Karen jokingly claims that she'll scream if the first merged tribal comes down to a rock draw.

Ricardo laughs and throws his head back, sighing before giving both Kanda and Karen a hug, easily deducing that Phillip opted to flip on the group, just as Estan had warned he would. Estan is seen silently laughing on the jury, whilst Julius thanks his tribe members and Phillip for siding with him. Ricardo wishes the group luck, claiming there are "no hard feelings", receiving praise off the group as he heads over to Jeff with his torch. After Ricardo departs the tribal council area, both Kanda and Karen look disheartened, with the latter sending glares over to Phillip, ready to tear into him for his decision to turn on his former tribe. The final seven grab their things and head back to camp, ready to see how the fallout of the vote will effect tribe dynamics moving into the final twelve days of the competition.

Voting Confessionals
"chuayjai"

- Ricardo, I'm voting you because you're both a threat to my game, and this move is what keeps my position from being damaged this early in the merge.

"chuayjai"

- Big competition... Nice guy. Wish you the best.

"chuayjai"

- You seem to be complacent with how you're playing this game because of the steady position you've held onto. I can only hope that tonight that changes.

"chuayjai"

- You seem like a good enough person, and this is just about the game.

"chuayjai"

- I said I wouldn't do this, but I realistically wasn't going to give you the benefit of my trust after how you played these past few days. Initially this was going to be a vote for Julius, but this feels like the smartest thing for my game right now.

"chuayjai"

- You and I started by picking the tribes at the very start... and I think we'd have been great allies had we had the proper chance to work together. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to change allegiances just yet because it would ruin the work I've already put into my original tribe. All the best...

"chuayjai"

- Easy decision for us, just got to hope that Phillip changes over.

Final Words
"chuayjai"

- It is tough being the first one out just after the merge, but I can say that I've had an amazing time and I don't regret a thing about my journey. I had a very difficult start with my tribe and the clash of personalities there... and sadly when we had to pick between Estan and Phillip it was a case of two evils... neither of which I believe would've stuck with us. Julius and Vince remain in control, and I hope the others can do something soon because if not it will be very dull watching them get to the end.