English Summary
Episode 17 of the Thai TV series "Thailand Book of Records" (บันทึกไทย) sat down with Natt and Paul Hamon at a restaurant stop to talk through their tandem bicycle honeymoon around all 77 provinces of Thailand — a journey the show ultimately agreed to formally record.
The couple explained the idea was Paul's: an early joke about cycling from Bangkok to Paris (a friend had once taken a year to do it) got talked down to something more manageable — Thailand's 77 provinces instead. They rode a specialised German-made tandem recumbent, with Paul in the rear seat handling steering and pedalling, and Natt reclined up front, free to rest, take photos, or check Facebook as they rode. Natt described herself as an ordinary rider who mostly cycled to the local market; Paul was the more committed cyclist of the two.
They set off on 29 May 2012, about two to three weeks after their wedding, starting from Surat Thani and looping south to the border provinces before working east, northeast, north, and back down through central Thailand to finish in Bangkok — 159 days and roughly 9,000km later. They stayed in hotels rather than camping (Paul's reasoning: it's still a honeymoon), carried six bags of gear, and got each province's district office or a local bike shop to stamp a logbook and send a postcard as proof of the visit — the record the show relied on to verify the trip.
They were candid about the hard parts: a blown front tyre once sent them sliding onto the tarmac (they escaped without serious injury, crediting a helmet and gloves), and the constant physical closeness of the tandem meant arguments as much as adventure — Natt and Paul both said the first three months felt like an easy honeymoon, but that mental fatigue and friction set in after that, forcing them to learn patience and compromise. Their advice to future long-distance touring couples: keep it to two or three months, not six. The trip was partly supported by the Australian Embassy in Thailand and bicyclethailand.com, and Natt kept her tour-guiding business running remotely from the road with help from her team back home.