I recently commented on a now closed thread about the word "farang." I suggested it was a derogatory term.

2 readers expressed "confusion", one expressed "sad."

 

Well, to help clear up the confusion, here are two perspectives:

 

"Farang is basically a neutral word, but people who respect you (or who should respect you) will not use it - if you hear a work colleague, for example, refer to you as farang they probably mean it as an insult while a taxi driver or market vendor doing the same is unlikely to mean any offense at all."

 

"While the Thai may say "Oh, we don't mean any offence, we say it in a nice way", the fact is that by not using skin colour, or nationality, and collectively lumping all western (anglosaxon derived) peoples as 'farang', there is both an implicit and overt tendency to join all three attributes. 

And, as farang is used in a derogatory manner at times, it clearly has a racist meaning. "

 

This is one perspective, mind you.

Would be interesting to hear what others think.

 

More often than not, yes, but not always.

Is "Farang" Derogatory?
Only if you want it to be,they could call you a lot worse,don't fret about it.

regards worgeordie

It always depends on how a word is used, it can be used in a neutral as well as derogatory way.

In my experience the word Farang is a neutral word for Thais.

But who knows, maybe in 20 years it usage has changed and it's negative? (Same what happened to words like negro)

I was just yesterday called
"ai hear farung" by a moron driving his motorcycle sidecar on 2 wheels the sidecar raised 45 degrees to the road....no Idea why he called me a monitor lizard farung...but never mind sticks and stones etc

Haha... Yea that's a new one for me - monitor lizard faring." Who knows.

I guess maybe "bufallo Farung" would have been clearly meant derogatory? I heard it both ways on that word too.

 

Yeah I agree with you folks. To me, in the end, you have to LET something offend you for it to actually become an offense.

Yea, sometimes I can tell, given the context, it's meant derogatory, other times not.

I just don't use the term to refer to myself, as others do, knowing some Thai people would snicker at it.

In the end, no worries or fretting.

Sticks and stones....

I'm a Brit, rhymes with s...'  Millwall fans sing "no one likes us, we don"t  care"  Climb above all this bullshit. Have faith in yourself

No, being called farang by Thai people you don't know is not derogatory. But really you answered your question in your OP.

 

However, 'ai hear falang' is totally derogatory and they are are not calling you a monitor lizard despite what Google translate tells you.

 

But day-to-day, no, farang is not derogatory.

I was just yesterday called
"ai hear farung" by a moron driving his motorcycle sidecar on 2 wheels the sidecar raised 45 degrees to the road....no Idea why he called me a monitor lizard farung...but never mind sticks and stones etc

Why didn’t you reply:
Yet Mae, Mueng!

They can call me whatever they want, I know I am not a guava.

By definition the word farang is discriminatory. That means it is also racist.

Ooooh, what a totally original topic! Never before discussed on Thaivisa! Most definitely, this thread could not have possibly been started by a troll looking to stir up controversy and arguments. Nope, no sir. Nothing to see here, folks.

Name calling is nothing new from spiteful children. They can call me what they like as they are mostly uneducated and clueless as to their own nation they reside in. 

As most of the Thai people doesn't know what it means or where the word comes from, it doesn't disturb me to be called Farang.
At the time of Indochina, there were a lot of Frenchmen in SEA and the Thai pronunciation of "Français" was "Farançais'... Farance... Farang. That's the origin of "Farang" which now means Westerner.

Now if they call me Farang with the meaning of "Français", then yes I will be very angry because I'm not French and will never be!

 

 

Yes it is,just  as "gaijin" is in Japan.   That being said ,most all of the Thais that use the word mean no harm or slur as they have very little schooling about their own language ,where it came from,who brought different words to the country as most of westerns do in English , German,French,Etc. Unlike in Japan where it is actually used as a slur.

i usually hear the term 'falang jai jao',

i think it means 'not sexually attractive'

If being called farang bothers you it's time to leave.

20 minutes ago, cms22 said:

By definition the word farang is discriminatory. That means it is also racist.

I agree with you, it is these things. Interestingly it seems Thais don't have such a paranoia about racism as westerners seem to have and can use racist terms and objects in non hurtful ways, as we used to be able to do.

call them lao, and see how the react!!!

I do

Just now, dinsdale said:

If being called farang bothers you it's time to leave.

Well it's not really about whether it bothers you or not the question is, is it derogatory? 

..if you feel it's being spat rather than said.. issue a friendly reminder.."Khun Falang"..Mister Farang to you!..or if your in Isan and you want to "dissipate" a situation reply .."mai..bakseeda!"

Just now, starky said:

Well it's not really about whether it bothers you or not the question is, is it derogatory? 

It's a discription. I don't find it derogatory but it does get a bit tiresome sometimes. Having said that living in a foreign country  you need a bit of a thicker skin. Water off a duck's back.

Absolutely not. Perhaps some Farang might be "jai noi" and think the term is derogatory. 

23 minutes ago, starky said:

Well it's not really about whether it bothers you or not the question is, is it derogatory? 

No, the term itself is totally not derogatory.. Just names a group of people. Just like Thai. Or Europeans. Or Eskimos. Or Asians.

 

I feel sorry for those who have a hard time coping with being labeled farang... Must be difficult for them to hear it daily .

 

I don't think bad of it, actually refer to myself as farang in certain situations dealing with Thai.

24 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Absolutely not. Perhaps some Farang might be "jai noi" and think the term is derogatory. 

Most farangs are jai noi, I do no say all of course, but most for sure

No matter how it is said, it is derogatory. Any reference to a certain group of people, based on their appearance, is derogatory. If I was in my own country and called Thai people on the street "Brownie",  "Blackies", "Chestnut" etc. I would probably be attacked there and then.

1 hour ago, cms22 said:

By definition the word farang is discriminatory. That means it is also racist.

Saying "by definition" doesn't elevate your comment to an intelligent observation especially if you don't really understand the word "discriminate."

 

Describing someone as British or tall or handsome is discriminatory since it separates the person described from those of other nationalities or from short or ugly people.

 

In the example below, according to you, the baby is a racist because it can discriminate between a happy or angry or sad person.

Quote

dis·crim·i·nate
verb
1.
recognize a distinction; differentiate.
"babies can discriminate between different facial expressions of emotion"

 

Discriminating has taken on a negative connotation, but its actual meaning, when applied to someone who is discriminating, is complimentary. 

1.  

   Quote

    

   (of a person) having or showing refined taste or good judgment.

   "he became a discriminating collector and patron of the arts"

   synonyms:    discerning, perceptive, astute, shrewd, judicious, perspicacious, insightful

    

    

    

    

It’s not offensive to me and I actually have saved some baht using the word.

a couple of times at venues where dual pricing is the norm I have spoken loudly enough for those nearby to hear and when accompanied by my Thai gf “1 Thai and 1 farang” which resulted in enough laughter in the booth that they let me in with the Thai price. “Winning” lol 

no need to worry, it is mostly super low class uneducated trash that give comments like that, so why would you even bother

51 minutes ago, SpeakeasyThai said:

Name calling is nothing new from spiteful children. They can call me what they like as they are mostly uneducated and clueless as to their own nation they reside in. 

So I guess we can deduce that calling Thais "uneducated and clueless" means that you are a spiteful child.

 

Usually if someone who doesn't know me wants my attention s/he calls me  "mister." People who do know me call me by name or "pa."  Can't think of any occasion when anyone felt compelled to call me anything else, but then I've never been in a police lineup or in an argument in a bar.

 

Lot of bitter old dears in this thread who feel they've lost face and are desperately looking for reasons to feel hard done by.