It's morning of Day 16 at Sook Jai.  Fresh from a Tribal Council, where
Stephanie had been expelled, the question of trust hovers above the
Sookies.  Robb talks with Penny, and wants to know if she was plan-
ing on voting against him.  She denies this, but Robb explains that
he heard from Ken that she was.  Penny continues to deny, so Robb
now confronts Ken.  Our favorite policeman admits to Skate-Boy that
at their first Tribal Council, it was a toss-up between Jedd and Robb.
Obvivously they have something against people with double letters
in their name.  No wonder Shii Ann feels uncomfortable, she has two
sets of double letters.  Robb gets nasty and loud and sulks off.

Over at Chuay Gahn, we have Jan and Helen returning from their 3
mile swim for drinking water.  The Boys losing the boat is still an
issue, so the lads decide to swim across the channel to a nearby
island to search for it.  Helen thinks it's a dumb idea, but The Boys go
anyway.  About halfway there, they realize the island is a lot farther
than they thought.  Clay has the most trouble, but The Boys make it
and search in vain.  The fishing boat is long gone, probably sunk. 
They return empty-handed and exhausted.

Back at Sook Jai, Robb is still ornery.  He's also hungry, and decides
to have himself a banana.  Ken sees this, and questions the others,
"Isn't today a no-banana-day?".  Penny and Erin agree that today is
just that.  The tribe's plan was to skip a day to stretch their supply,
and to allow the green bananas to ripen some more.  They march to
Robb and confront his violation of tribal rules.  Robb has no excuse,
other than he is hungry and wants a banana.  Ken is the main prose-
cuter, but Shii Ann joins in.  Penny tries to get her to cool it and let
Ken deal with Skate-Boy.  Robb goes off with his banana and sulks.

It's time for a Reward Challenge, an exciting game of 'Wicker-Ball'.
One player from each tribe, Helen and Penny, uses a large slingshot
to launch takraw balls at the rest, who try to catch the balls with
wicker baskets mounted on broomsticks.  The prize is a Thai feast,
complete with wine and entertainment.  Jeff shows them a sample
of the yummies that await them.  Sook Jai sits out Shii Ann.  Let the
games begin!

Once again, physical contact is allowed between the tribes.  Robb
blazes across the field, catching one ball after another, knocking
Brian and Clay down whenever possible.  It's starting to look like a
hockey game, and the athletic Sookies are cleaning the clocks of
Chuay Gahn.  The Chewies call for a time-out to discuss strategy. 
Ted decides that he will play against Robb.  When the game resumes,
the strategy works.  Ted covers Robb well, and Chuay Gahn ties the
score 4-4.  One more ball to either tribe wins.  Sook Jai now calls a
time-out.  Robb is pissed.  Penny tells Robb to draw Ted outside
while she aims the ball to the middle for the others to catch.  The plan
works, with Ken catching the winning ball. 

The Chewies return to camp, sulking over their loss.  They are frus-
trated with their losing ways.  Especially with food at stake.  They
are all tired and hungry.  Helen figures if The Boys hadn't gone on
their foolish swim, they may have had a chance.  Ted tries to make
excuses, but apologizes for being bossy during the game.

While Chuay Gahn pulls clams off of rocks for their next meal, Sook
Jai arrives at Feast Beach.  There they find pork, shrimp, pineapples
filled with rice, tea, ice water, and several bottles of wine.  As they
dig in, the Sookies are treated with Thai musicians and dancers.  All
have a great time.  Everybody is happy, even Robb, whom the rest
acknowledge as the one who won the competition for the rest.  After-
all, tonight's show is entitled, "The Power of One".  Clearly, the focus
is on one named Robb.  Even Shii Ann is getting along with Robb!

Day 17 and Chuay Gahn starts thinking about the coming merge.  Ted
and Brian have a quiet chat about their secret alliance.  They know
they'll be in trouble if the others find out how tight they really are.
Oddly enough, Clay does not know.  When he approaches, Ted and
Brian clam up. 

There's male bonding over at Sook Jai as well.  Ken and Robb go off
to fetch water.  They discover a cave nearby and decide to explore it.
Avoiding some bats, they marvel at the cave's beauty.  Robb gets
emotional, and Ken decides to council Robb on his behavior.  Skate-
Boy doesn't like being told what to do, but Ken explains he's trying
to help him.  Robb is touched (in the head), and they make peace.

Jan finds a dead baby bat near Camp Chuay Gahn, and gets weepy
and tells the others they need to have a funeral.  Helen and The Boys
think Jan has flipped out.  Ted offers to send a card and flowers.  But
Jan is undaunted and digs a grave for the baby bat and buries it be-
fore Brian can eat it.  They then find tree mail announcing it's time
for the Immunity Challenge.

The game is Thai-21, not to be confused with Bat-21.  The object is for
each tribe to take between one to three flags during their turn, of
which there are 21, and to do so that they get the last flag at the end.
Robb sits this one out, and Sook Jai goes first, taking two flags.  This
was dumb.  They should've taken just one, and then take the same
number as Chuay Gahn takes during their turn.  Chewies realize this
and take advantage.  In the end, Sook Jai figures out that they've
blown it and Chuay Gahn wins. 

The Sookies return to their camp and decide to break open the wine
they had won.  It's their last night together before the merge, and
they all get drunk and emotional.  Robb tells everyone about the epi-
phany he has had.  How he now knows the meaning of life, and loves
the universe.  The others get teary, either from his tale or perhaps
they feel bad, knowing that he is their next victim.  Even Shii Ann is
moved by Robb's discourse.

At Tribal Council, Jeff prods the Sookies with his questioning.  They
all agree that the past three days have been the best and worst, and
that tonight's vote will be the hardest.  Robb shares his epiphany with
his buddy, Jeff, who is almost impressed.  Erin tells Jeff that Robb
has helped in them making their decision tonight.  He sure did!  The
vote is 5 for Robb, who cast a lone vote against Shii Ann.  Jeff says,
"The tribe has spoken, Dude."  Robb departs, but enlightened, in a
Zen sort of way, and bids all well.  Jeff then rubs the others in the face
with the fact that Robb was a key member of their tribe. 

SPOILERS:  Brian does an impersonation of a musician, being the life
of the party, then pewking his guts out.  Ken confronts Shii Ann about
her loyalty to the tribe.  Jeff gathers them all for the merger.