Coffins to skateboards - Thai PBS World Tonight [1st April 2021]

From a final and eternal resting place, to a speedy way of getting around! A Thai coffin-maker is now turning wooden Buddhist caskets into skateboards.

Over the years, hordes of young Thais have taken up skateboarding and surf-skating, probably helped by most social spaces, like bars and gyms, being closed for months at a time because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Today, young skaters can be seen cruising through Bangkok’s historic quarters and its public open spaces. From malls to university campuses and parking lots.

As the popularity grew, and the price of skateboards also skyrocketed, with 2nd hand boards going for as much as 40,000 to 50,000 baht online, Anusorn Yungyearn decided to breathe new life into some of the wooden caskets he had lying around his Bangkok workshop.