DeathFest!

March 21st, 2026| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Yup, there was a “DeathFest” the other day. In Nonthaburi, near Bangkok, Thailand. This was the second year it’s been held. The unusual fair broached a subject that is uncomfortable for some, fearful for others, and taboo for many, inviting people to confront their own mortality.

As a business venture, the event brought together experts and organizations involved in health care, financial planning, palliative care, funeral services, and memorial innovations. And activities and talks focused not only on preparing for death but also on maintaining quality of life until the final days.

Thailand is about 95% Buddhist; one of the central tenets of that religion is about life’s unavoidable sufferings, not only death, but birth, aging, and sicknesses, as well. How does one tackle these inescapable realities?

Sangduan Ngamvinijaroon attended the three-day event Friday with her mother:.

Death used to be a difficult subject for my family, but having spent more than 20 years caring for ill family members, I have witnessed several deaths firsthand and now feel more at ease talking about it. I like DeathFest because it’s not just about dying well. It’s also about the present moment and taking good care of our lives while we’re still here.”

There were Instagrammable and selfie stations where you could pose for a photo sitting in a coffin.

Editor-in-chief of The Cloud magazine and one of the event’s lead organizers, Zcongklod Bangyikhan:

Death involves everybody. It’s not just about you. Instead of wondering what dying will be like, maybe we should think about how to make things easier for the people who remain after we’re gone.”

One popular exhibit was called “Test Die.” You could not only lie inside coffins of different sizes and styles, but also see yourself in those boxes with a mirror suspended above.

Office worker Phinutda Seehad said it felt calming:

I don’t think I’m scared of death. I also don’t want to die, but when the time comes, I don’t think it will be that frightening.”

Oh, and there was a biodegradable coffin made from mycelium— the rootlike fibers of fungi—which helps naturally with decomposition. What a way to go!

DeathFest Founder, Jirawan Kumsao, also the head of a company producing coffins for pets, said:

It gives people comfort to know they’ve cared for their pets until the very end. It looks like a spacecraft, a capsule, for sending them to another world.”

Which world is that? I wondered.

Now I have no idea about the afterlife, or lack thereof, of animals, but I know this.

… it is appointed for mankind to die once and after this comes judgment.
Hebrews 9:27

For you see, …

… the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

And that free gift is received by faith, by trust, by believing in one’s heart in Jesus Christ as one’s only God and Savior from sin.

Jesus, himself, said:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

And for believers, one day …

“… He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, … and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain.”
Revelation 21:3–4

No need for a DeathFest. Because death will simply be an entrance into a … LifeFest!

SOURCE: Associated Press