Ageing Southeast Asia fights fears of death to brave the inevitable

Death is the family business for Viroj Suriyasenee, a second-generation Thai funeral director.His bespoke coffins range from plain wooden boxes to ornate creations trimmed in gold with plush red velvet interiors, priced anywhere from US$30 to US$30,000 – each one representing a story of loss, grief and a life concluded.They also speak to the sheer scale of Asia’s ever-growing, multibillion-dollar death economy.A visitor tries out a coffin at Death Fest in Nonthaburi, Thailand. Photo: Aidan JonesAll the coffins Viroj makes are destined for the cremation furnace, yet the 55-year-old reports rising demand for original styles as tradition is increasingly paired with, questioned or diluted by a desire for individuality to the very end.”What has changed is that people now want to make their own choices while they are alive,” he said. “They are thinking about what they want to leave behind: a last memory for themselves and their loved ones, a final moment of creativity.”Viroj spoke to This Week in Asia at Death Fest in Bangkok – a three-day expo for those seeking a richer understanding of death and its costs – as attendees clambered in and out of his coffins, taking selfies.It was, in a way, quintessentially Thai: confronting the macabre with a light, almost playful touch.Viroj and his 27-year-old daughter Ramida run Suriya Funeral, a 70-year-old family-run business just outside Thailand’s capital.