by  Arthur Perkins
 
Teams start in Phuket, Thailand, with release at the following times which I have modified from what was shown on the telecast to make them real. The reason this is necessary is that Tammy/Victor were checked into the Phuket pit stop 3 minutes of ahead of Margie/Luke and 4 minutes ahead of the expiration of the Mark/Michael penalty. There is no way Tammy/Victor could have gotten 3 hours ahead, although it is totally moot given the fact that the last flight on most nights out of Phuket to Bangkok leaves at 930pm, impossible to get with the shown 927pm pit release stop time. So release times:

Tammy/Victor 1227am                                                                                                                                                               

Margie/Luke 1231am                                                                                                                                                               

Mark/Michael 1232am                                                                                                                                                              

Jaime/Cara 1246am                                                                                                                                                                      

Kisha/Jen 105am

All teams get the 720am flight to Bangkok, TG226 arriving 850am. Thus beings a madcap series of tasks in the Bangkok area. They start by going to the Senyon? Boatyard on the outskirts of Bangkok. There Jen/Kisha and Mark/Michael leave their backpacks behind with money and passports, either on the property or in the taxis. All teams compete for the ROADBLOCK “Who’s ready to propel their team forward?” putting together the critical parts for a long-tailed boar propeller. This requires some mechanical aptitude Margie arrived and finished first. Jaime also blitzed this for second. Victor apparently finishes this third, but it does not work in the ultimate test of propelling a long-tailed boat. Tammy/Victor are going nowhere until he gets it right, which is in last place. Mark/ passes them and so does Kisha. Shortly after teams leave the boatyard and are being maneuvered through Bangkok’s canal system, there is some debate within by Mark/Michael and Kisha/Jen about whether to turn around and get the backpacks (and in Kisha’s case shoes, fanny pack, money and passports), but they elect to wait and do it later. What they find is that they continue to get farther and farther from the boatyard and will then have to go back through Bangkok’s congested streets, taking much more time than on the water. What a mess! Victor noticed this and decided to take his and Tammy’s gear with them.

 After a brief stop at Peninsula Pier to get a clue, the next task is a DETOUR, Broken Teeth or Broken Record. Broken Teeth is to fit 5 people for dentures. Each one takes time and it somewhat predictable.  Broken Record is to sing karaoke in a “party taxi” with 3 cute Thai women, but it also involves the

Taxi traversing 5 miles in central Bangkok during a bust time of day. Margie/Luke find the right location on The Street of Happy Smiles (rough translation) do the dentures relatively quickly, and get the clue for the pit stop at Phya Thai Palace. All teams doing karaoke appeared to be having a fine time. Before arriving, Mark/Michael elect to go back to the boatyard but have only 500 baths to cover the 785 baht cost of the taxi from the boatyard to near the BROKEN RECORD detour. They offer a flashlight to make up the difference, which is accepted by the taxi driver. To get back, they ask another taxi driver essentially to trust them as when they have their backpacks again they will be able to pay. He accepts that offer and then brings them all the way back to the BROKEN RECORD DETOUR. They presumably paid for that with all the money they had, as these dislocations had consumed all their money.  Kisha/Jen did not go back until finishing BROKEN RECORD. They asked a taxi driver to take them back for free, but he presumably got paid once their retrieved their money.

 All teams now go to the Phya Thai Palace, Margie/Luke from BROKEN TEETH, the next 3 teams from BROKEN RECORD, and Kisha/Jen from the boatyard where they have retrieved their backpack. Margie/Luke is #1, Jaime/Cara #2, and Tammy/Victor #3 arriving at same time as Kisha/Jen. However, Phil Keoghan refused to check in Kisha/Jen without their travel documents to exit Thailand. They now had to pay the piper and go back to  They asked a taxi driver to take them back for free, but he presumably got paid once their retrieved their money. That was a long way and took a long time. In the interim, Mark/Michael finished BROKEN RECORD and arrived at the pit stop. However, Phil told them that they had violated the rules by bartering personal possessions and were getting 2 two hour penalties as a result. That penalty clock had 3 hours 10 minutes left when Kisha/Jan arrived to be checked in at #4. So then Mark/Michael were checked in for last place. Phil told them the good news was it is a non–elimination leg (NEL). The bad news is the Speed bump they will incur the next leg.  It is rare that Amazing Races show such bad judgment in action by the racers. What were the two teams that had to go back thinking? It will mean absolutely nothing for Kisha/Jen as their late finish will be washed out by an airport bunching dead ahead. However, for Mark/Michael it is likely to cause them to miss the first morning flight combination out of Bangkok. That could be fatal on top of the Speed Bump penalty workoff.

(Photo courtesy of CBS)

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