Photos: A taste of death at this Bangkok coffee shop

Dying for a cup of coffee? You will feel right at home at Bangkok's new "death awareness" cafe, a macabre, Buddhist spin on the themed-cafe craze where customers are urged to confront their own mortality. With drinks called "death" and "painful" on the menu and a skeleton out on a couch in the corner, the meet-your-maker theme is alive and well at this open-air lunch spot. And the centrepiece of the "Kid Mai (Think New) Death Cafe" experience is a decorated white coffin where customers are encouraged to lay down for a few minutes to contemplate their final moments -- and secure a discount.

Updated on: Apr 12, 2018 10:02 AM IST

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A skeleton on a chair warns against drinking and driving at the Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand. With drinks called ‘Death’ and ‘Painful’ on the menu and a skeleton splayed out in the corner, the meet-your-maker theme is alive and well at this open-air lunch spot in the Thai capital. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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If you’re dying for a cup of coffee, you’ll feel right at home at this “death awareness” cafe, a macabre, Buddhist spin on the themed-cafe craze. Over a piping cuppa, visitors are urged to confront their own mortality -- and live better lives as a result. There are philosophy classes in one corner and desks to plan your funeral in another. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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The centrepiece of the Kid Mai (Think New) Death Cafe experience though is a decorated white coffin where customers are encouraged to lay down for a few minutes to contemplate their final moments -- and secure a discount on their drink. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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‘Born’, ‘Elder’, ‘Pain’ and ‘Death’ are just a few of the café’s peachy offerings. The cafe’s owner Veeranut Rojanaprapa says his restaurant is more than just a gimmick or dark take on the cute and cuddly coffee shops common in the Thai capital, which boasts everything from cat, husky and meerkat cafes to unicorn and mermaid-themed eateries. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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A barista prepares a chocolate milkshake called ‘Death’ at the Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe. A professor and social researcher, Veeranut conceived of the cafe as a way to teach Thai people -- 90% of whom identify as Buddhist -- about the benefits of “death awareness”. “We found that having an awareness of death decreases greed and anger,” he explained. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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Veeranut believes the Buddhist concept, rooted in ideas of impermanence and selflessness, is the key to ridding Thai society of chronic problems like violence and corruption. The casket experience is also a way to nudge the country’s technology-addicted youth to step back and reassess their personal lives. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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“When teenagers go down to the coffin and our staff close the coffin, because of the darkness, because of the small space, they will be aware of themselves... they will recall the things that they still haven’t done,” Veeranut said, adding that he makes a point of considering his own demise nightly. (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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The cafe is not the first to offer a resurrection experience in Thailand, where a temple outside Bangkok is famous for symbolic funerals to rid souls of bad karma. Sitting squarely in the middle of a community centre, the cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is posted with signs asking questions like: “What is the purpose of your life?” (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)

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“This is so disturbing. I feel really strange walking there and might avoid this shortcut,” one person wrote on a neighbourhood Facebook page. Yet Veeranut says he welcomes any controversy as a sign of success. “I love all of the complaints. Because if they are complaining it means they are thinking about death, they are aware of death.” (Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP)