Kid Mai Café of life and death in Bangkok

Photo: YouTube

It is not surprising if a café or other catering establishment is focused on a certain theme, but it is rare if the theme concerns life and death. In the Kid Mai Death Awareness Café in Bangkok, people drink a drink in an atmosphere of life and death.

Entrance

Within walking distance of the Ari BTS station, curious patrons will notice the ominous-looking tunnel from the entrance to the Kid Mai Death Awareness Café. As one enters the tunnel, signs light up with messages such as “Are you tired today?”, “Is someone waiting for you?” and “What is the purpose of your life?”.

With such a sinister entrance, you would tend to forget that you are actually on your way to a cafe. And in some ways it is, because the Kid Mai Death Awareness Café presents café aficionados with a strange new way to experience what it's like to feel dead while waiting for a drink.

The morbidity doesn't end there, as once you emerge from the tunnel, you're presented with a mock-up of a Thai funeral where patrons can lay down inside the coffin to feel what it's like to be dead. To experience death in the flesh.

Kid Mai Foundation

The idea for the theme of life and death comes from the philosopher/owner, Dr. Veeranut Rojanaprapa. The Kid Mai Death Awareness Café was established by the Kid Mai Foundation as a way to attract the young generation, who should immerse themselves in the teachings of the Buddha, especially to raise awareness of death. Although death is inevitable, people rarely discuss it. Therefore, the cafe offers sermons and activities that encourage people to do good deeds in this world before their time comes

Special drinks

Apart from the bizarre circumstances, the Kid Mai Death Awareness Café also has special drinks with names representing different stages of life.

The first potion, titled 'Born', is meant to indicate birth from the womb. Next is “Elder”, which is supposed to symbolize the point in life of aging and diminishing bodily functions. "Pain", a bloody-looking drink, is supposed to indicate the painful period before one comes to an end with "Death".

The drinks are not really expensive, but the intrepid visitor, who is willing to lie down in a closed coffin for three minutes, gets another 20 baht discount. So, that's what you do it for!

Finally

I found parts of the text above in a long article on the Bangkok Post website. You can read that in-depth story at: www.bangkokpost.com/

On YouTube you will find several videos, of which I chose the one below:

https://youtu.be/O4F3wipl5Z4