Minor spoilers ahead.

If the teams in the lead had been racing for "more than thirty hours
straight" then how was it for the teams who were lagging behind???

Three teams missed flights out of Chiang Mai putting them about twelve
hours behind the other teams. Hours of operations in the next city
closed the gap a bit and may have enabled some teams to make up enough
ground to still be in the race next week. A physical challenge faced
by teams already overcome with fatigue caused several players to break
down and cry. A night spent in an airport was also a bit too much for
at least one of the players left behind in Thailand. A couple of
players sported bruises. The preview for next week suggests that
injuries may start to become a factor in this race (more so than in
the previous two TARAs).

Martin