Is "Farang" Derogatory?

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, watcharacters said:

 

 

And yet you posted about it?

And you assumed that I am a happy, accepted, contributing member of my local moobahn? Really?

 

That's just too funny... I must go tell the mother-in-law.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Justfine said:

There's a lot of racism in Asia.

At least you have that right.

 

56 minutes ago, JingerBen said:

A word can define race without being derogatory.

 

Such as farang. Agreed.

 

Loss of context... what happens when everyone communicates by smart phones and reading and believing only what that see in text on their smart phones and doesn't talk to anyone much.

 

My biggest gripe is the heads-down-texting-while-walking syndrome. If they can't even look anyone in the eye, how on earth can they know if it's a bloody farang or not?

[NanLaew]

33 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

 

Yes definitely a Guava, If they want to compare me with a potato, I think they would say something like "man falang".

Sometimes, I remember the confusion when I was first called, 'mun kieow'

 

...but only sometimes.

[NanLaew]

21 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Farangs are considered inferior and there are derogatory words for asians, blacks etc

 

And farangs, particularly insecure farangs let the word farang rent far too much space in their pretty little farang heads.

[Justfine]

2 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

And farangs, particularly insecure farangs let the word farang rent far too much space in their pretty little heads.

It's racist no matter how you spin it.

[transam]

19 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Farangs are considered inferior and there are derogatory words for asians, blacks etc

 

 

 

As you feel do strongly about the subject you should contact TVF staff and complain about your disgust at a TV Forum called "Farang and Pub"....Let us know what they say....

[NanLaew]

1 minute ago, Justfine said:

It's racist no matter how you spin it.

But I'm not the one spinning.

[Justfine]

Just now, NanLaew said:

But I'm not the one spinning.

You are

[NanLaew]

Just now, transam said:

As you feel do strongly about the subject you should contact TVF staff and complain about your disgust at a TV Forum called "Farang and Pub"....Let us know what they say....

But make sure the bouncers are on a night off or you won't get in.

[NanLaew]

1 minute ago, Justfine said:

You are

No, you are conflating your spinning with my pushing your buttons.

 

That's enough for now though. I am off with trans to the Farang Pub

[Justfine]

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

No, you are conflating your spinning with my pushing your buttons.

 

That's enough for now though. I am off with trans to the Farang Pub

Suit yourself. Farang is a racist word.

[rumak]

calm down boys...

[transam]

2 minutes ago, rumak said:

i guess this guy's got his mind made up !

I feel sorry for his bird.....

[Kieran00001]

50 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Farangs are considered inferior and there are derogatory words for asians, blacks etc

 

 

 

 

 

Your generalizations on Thai's amount to racism, not all Thai's consider farangs inferior, and even if they did that would not make the word racist.  It doesn't matter how many white people think they are superior to black people, black can not become a derogatory word as a result.  And I addressed the issue about words that are designed to disparage, farang is not one of them.

 

[Psimbo]

Has six months passed already? It's about the time it seems for this to come around yet again. 

[Kieran00001]

45 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Suit yourself. Farang is a racist word.

 

A race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as distinct by society. 

Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another.

 

A word that describes a group of humans based on their shared physical quality, in this case being white, meets the definition of a word that describes a race.  Perhaps you can explain how you think this word does anything to denote how anyone is feeling regarding racial superiority, but I bet you can't, you would have by now otherwise, rather that resorting to just insisting that it is so without further explanation.

[Justfine]

17 minutes ago, Kieran00001 said:

 

A race is a grouping of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into categories generally viewed as distinct by society. 

Racism is the belief in the superiority of one race over another.

 

A word that describes a group of humans based on their shared physical quality, in this case being white, meets the definition of a word that describes a race.  Perhaps you can explain how you think this word does anything to denote how anyone is feeling regarding racial superiority, but I bet you can't, you would have by now otherwise, rather that resorting to just insisting that it is so without further explanation.

Giving discounts based on race is racist.

[nanglong218]

By page 20 this may have been covered,   but anyway.  In Oz before the last Ashes series the ABC wondered if it was racist to refer to the English as Poms/Pommies.     The response was "give them the full title,  Pommy Bastar ds"     And everybody fell about laughing.

[grollies]

And there you have it in a nutshell, get over it.

[grollies]

Whoops, double post

[grollies]

Blacks (Caribbean, African, etc) are Nigro

Indians are kaak india

Pakistan are kaak paki

Chinese are Jeen

Japanese are Yippon

Indonesians are kaak indo

Malaysians are kaak malay

Singaporeans are Jeen Singapore

Americans are farang

Europeans are farang

Russians are farang

Australians are farang

 

It's all just descriptive.

[NanLaew]

8 hours ago, Justfine said:

Giving discounts based on race is racist.

I thought you said that charging more was racist. Now it's giving discounts? Make your mind up.

 

Giving discounts is good economics IMHO.

[Ulysses G.]

It is not derogatory unless a derogatory term is added to modify it.  Claims otherwise are nonsense.

[DaddyWarbucks]

6 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

It is not derogatory unless a derogatory term is added to modify it.  Claims otherwise are nonsense.

That answers the OP's question in the most concise way possible.

[ZigM]

Farang is a simple Thai word in the Thai language referring to the Francs (or French) in the 1500's. As with all languages, words change a little or a lot over time. Nowadays, farang means any Caucasian-looking person because a 'white' person apparently can't be Thai. Therefore, the word is often used to describe a white 'foreigner'. A person from Africa would be referrred to as 'farang dam' = black foreigner.

 

While I accept that the word 'farang' is inoffensive in a general conversation, it is never the less derogative more often than not. For example, my wife and I recently went on a trip. The driver kept on giving instructions to my wife such as: "...tell the farang this...".  At the border: "...tell the farang that...". At the hotel: " "...tell the farang bla bla...".  At the restaurant:  "...tell the farang..."... I have a name. I am a person. The driver has my name on the passenger list. The same when my wife, my son and I went to visit the palace in BKK 11 years ago. My then 8-year old son had Thai citizenship, yet some douchebag in uniform bellowed at my son for the: "...farang child to get in the farang line with his farang father!". I'd never seen my wife so upset and angry as she walked up to the douchebag and yelled at the dude in uniform: "Don't call my son farang! My son is THAI!". The place went quiet. My wife then screamed at my son to get back into her line.  My son quietly went back to his mother into the Thai line. I stayed in the farang line.

 

I have a few things to say:

1. segregating people based on appearance is racism. Period. We don't need to discuss that. Go, Google it!

2. the lame excuse that foreigners don't pay taxes and therefore must pay more to get into national parks etc is BS because my then wife, son, nor her relatives ever paid taxes. There is no legitimate reason to charge non-Asian-looking people more. This is racism. Period. We don't need to discuss that. Go, Google it!

3. The mere fact that my then wife went berko over our son being referred to as a farang clearly demonstrates that it is, at the very least, in the majority of cases, and for a Thai, an offensive word.

4. Imagine if I referred to every Thai as an Asian in conversation? That wouldn't go down well. Imagine had I told my wife a few weeks ago to tell the bus driver: "Tell the Asian to stop at the next toilet...", or, "Tell the Asian to take my bags to my hotel room". Would that be appropriate?

5. Another often boring excuse cited for using the word 'farang' is because the Thai didn't speak English. I honestly don't know what that has to do with anything.

 

In closing, at the very minimum, the word 'farang' is insulting. As it refers to race, it is logically racist, especially if the Thai is referring to me. I worked for a farang government for 18 years. Had I ever referred to my non-white looking colleagues, visitors or anyone else as a foreigner, Asian or whatever, I would have been dismissed. I challenge Thailand to swiftly move into the 21st century and accept that not everyone is a Thai. I have dual-citizenship, my children have 3, my grandson has 4 citizenships. 

 

Stop defending what is a racist term, or, create a neutral word for foreigner that doesn't imply skin-colour or other facial features or ethnicity. As farang refers to a white foreigner, it is extremely racial charged and implies that the receiver can't be Thai.

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, ZigM said:

In closing, at the very minimum, the word 'farang' is insulting. As it refers to race, it is logically racist, especially if the Thai is referring to me. I worked for a farang government for 18 years. Had I ever referred to my non-white looking colleagues, visitors or anyone else as a foreigner, Asian or whatever, I would have been dismissed. I challenge Thailand to swiftly move into the 21st century and accept that not everyone is a Thai. I have dual-citizenship, my children have 3, my grandson has 4 citizenships. 

But still incorrect as humans are entitled to a classifier in Thai language.

Kon farang and kon Thai show the persons are human.

Farang and Thai is reducing their status to animal.

 

Any Thai calling you a Farang is essentially calling you a beast.

[ZigM]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

But still incorrect as humans are entitled to a classifier in Thai language.

Kon farang and kon Thai show the persons are human.

Farang and Thai is reducing their status to animal.

 

Any Thai calling you a Farang is essentially calling you a beast.

Entitled or not, its origin is based on race (the Francs). Therefore It's racist. Your argument is nonsense. Its application is often meant as an insult (but not always). The context is important. Or are you saying that '<deleted>' or 'Abbo', or 'Kaffa' are OK? Neither my wife nor her friends or family have ever uttered the word 'farang' in my presence because they realise it's an outdated and inappropriate word. I guess being university educated makes a difference if and in what context the word is used.

[Lorry]

On 5/14/2018 at 11:51 AM, Kieran00001 said:

not all Thai's consider farangs inferior

That's correct. 

But the guy who doesn't consider farangs inferior is currently on holidays abroad,  so  @Justfine has a point. 

[youreavinalaff]

On 6/16/2025 at 7:15 AM, ZigM said:

. I guess being university educated makes a difference

Said the poster complaining about discrimination. 

[Yellowtail]

On 5/3/2018 at 1:01 AM, Jingthing said:

Often but not always.

My feeling is that Thailand has no intention to ever be truly "multicultural" like the West.

What percentage of Thai citizens are caucasians?

In other words, how small a fraction of one percent is it?

Whatever the teeny tiny number it is, there is no interest in seeing that ever grow. 

So if you like getting called farang or not, grin and bear it.

Not your country. 

What would a more appropriate term be?