This cafe serves ‘death’ to customers
Times of India 16.04.2018
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 — and live better lives as a result.
With drinks called “death” and “painful” on the menu and a skeleton splayed out on a couch in the corner, the meetyour-maker theme is alive and well at this open-air lunch spot in the Thai capital.
But 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 on a drink.
“I feel like I am in a funeral,” 28-year-old Duanghatai Boonmoh said with a laugh as she sipped a chocolate “death smoothie” on a recent Saturday afternoon. She and other curious customers took turns climbing into the wooden box as friends sealed the lid.
“The first thing that came to my mind was, what if no one opens it?” Duanghatai said after emerging from the coffin. The cafe’s owner 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.
“When one is aware of their own death, they will do good. This is what our Lord Buddha teaches,” he explained. The casket experience is also a way to nudge the country’s technology-addicted youth to step back and reassess their personal lives.
The cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is now posted with signs asking questions like: “What is the purpose of your life?” AFP
CONFRONTING MORTALITY
Times of India 16.04.2018
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 — and live better lives as a result.
With drinks called “death” and “painful” on the menu and a skeleton splayed out on a couch in the corner, the meetyour-maker theme is alive and well at this open-air lunch spot in the Thai capital.
But 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 on a drink.
“I feel like I am in a funeral,” 28-year-old Duanghatai Boonmoh said with a laugh as she sipped a chocolate “death smoothie” on a recent Saturday afternoon. She and other curious customers took turns climbing into the wooden box as friends sealed the lid.
“The first thing that came to my mind was, what if no one opens it?” Duanghatai said after emerging from the coffin. The cafe’s owner 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.
“When one is aware of their own death, they will do good. This is what our Lord Buddha teaches,” he explained. The casket experience is also a way to nudge the country’s technology-addicted youth to step back and reassess their personal lives.
The cafe has also spread out to a public walkway, which is now posted with signs asking questions like: “What is the purpose of your life?” AFP
CONFRONTING MORTALITY
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