I think most of us that have lived here for a while aren’t offended by being called farang. I’m a black American and spent my formative years and beyond in the Jim Crow South. Americans have labels and made up names for everyone—it seems to me. If you walk with a limp, some will call you “gimp”. I first came to Thailand in the mid-sixties (Vietnam era). Then, some Thais referred to me as dum dum (black) or ne-co (their transliteration for negro) and some called me farang. Personally, I’ve never been offended by any of these labels. Back in the mid-sixties, I was a military policeman, stationed in Korat. I recall returning to my living quarters on base, around midnight. I had been partying downtown and had to report to work at 4:00 AM. When I walked into the barracks, two airmen were involved in what appeared to be a serious altercation. I knew these two had been friends: one was of Irish descent and the other was of the Jewish faith. They had been calling each other by the so-called offensive labels which was supposedly attributed to their ethnicity. I separated them and thought they had gone to sleep. I left for work around 3:00 AM. Later that day, I learned that the two had awakened and continued their name calling. One of them threw the other off the second story balcony which caused a near fatality. I was at work when the incident took place. However, ironically, I was called in on the carpet for not preventing these heretofore friends from trying to kill each other. For me, living in Thailand is humbling. I’m treated nicer here than in my own country. The offensive name calling thing seems to me as being primarily western. I don’t pay any attention to it.