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SkyDreamer wrote:

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I thought Australia was the highest rated season with 50 million watching the finale?

Shambo wrote:

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I just rewatched Thailand, and I'd probably put it in the top 10 out of 19....maybe not higher than that.

Positives:
1.) First school yard pick. This was very intriguing to me, even though we got two awkwardly divided tribes.
2.) Real People. This wasnt a big deal back when Thailand actual ran, but now when I watch it again, its refreshing.
3.) Lots of emotion. The Robb maturing scenes, Sook Jai deteriorating, Grindgate, Ted and Helen getting stabbed in the back...
4.) Unique challenges/Rewards
5.) Fake Merge
6.) Dominant strategic winner who built on Richard Hatch's base strategy and added "The final 2 goat" as a strategy
7.) Very strong family member episode / fallen comrades scene
8.) Arguably the best variety of the survivor theme song.

Negatives:
1.) Predictable outcome. Although I will say that Clay and Helen got a lot more face-time than Brian. I think Ted also got at least as much.
2.) Too many people with VERY thick accents (Jan, Ted, Ken, Stephanie, Penny, Clay, Tanya.)
3.) Drab camp scenery. Living in a cave with Magilla was cool, but the Chuay Gahn/Chuay Jai camp was nothing but sand and rock.
4.) Lack of smart game play. Sook Jai implosion, Helen/Jan/Ted not voting out Clay, Clays pitiful answers to Helen and Jake's questions.
5.) Too many negative incidents (Grindgate/Clay's alleged racism/Ken confronting Brian/Clay vs Jake/Robbs immaturity/etc.) gave the season an overall uneasy vibe

It wasnt like you didnt have big characters this season though. Helen was really well developed throughout. If you watch the season all the way through, Clay is hilarious, yet descriptive and concise in his narrator role. Of course there's Robb and his antics (which annoyed me personally, but helped shape the Sook Jai story). We get to know Jake very well. The strange thing is that Brian didnt really become a developed character until after the merge...you dont really see much of his strategy or manipulation. He's just the Alpha male on the tribe that everyone trusts. You probably hear more about him from the other castaways than you do from himself. Every castaway got a story which explained their spot in their tribe and ultimately why they were voted out except possibly Erin.

Granted, there werent really any blindsides (unless you include John Raymond) and the strategy (aside from Brian's) wasnt really awe-inspiring. What I dont understand is that we all complain about how the casts in the later seasons arent "Real People/Applicants" and that tribes like Kota, Timbira and Galu build a big lead and then essentially blow it....yet Thailand has one of the most "real" casts out of any seasons and Chuay Gahn actually stuck together and completed the total Pagonging of Sook Jai, and then the leader of the Chuay Gahn alliance completely dominates post-merge and seals the deal. If they could have gotten the Chuay Gahn campsite to be a bit more eye appealing, not had quite so many southerners in the cast, and edited it to lead us into a bit more uncertainty towards the outcome, I think most people here would enjoy Thailand if it happened to be this season instead of an earlier season.