I'm sure this topic has been done to death on here before, but as of yet I haven't seen one.

My question is, when you are in the company of Thai people, say at a dinner, wedding or whatever, does it bother you when you are constantly referred to as the farang?

 

For me it happens quite a lot,

as I spend lots of time with thais I hear the term regularly.

When I first moved here it didn't bother me at all, but now it kind of does.

It wears you down when you hear it constantly,

like it or not but the word Farang is a label.

It creates an 'us and them' mentality amongst the locals.

The word itself may pose little harm on its own, but after years of being constantly reminded that you are a foreigner, an outsider, it gets to you.

 

Why is there a deep distrust among Thais with the farang?

I recall one recent episode that happened a few weeks ago.

one of our neighbours had just had a baby, the grandmother was there to stay.

she was more than happy to let my wife come and see him but she asked specifically not to let the farang in.

when my wife asked why, her response was 'farang mai dee. covid yer.'

this is just one example of hundreds I have experienced over the years.

Some days it doesnt bother me at all, other days like today it gets on my t*ts!

 

How about you lot?

does it bother you always being labelled a foreigner when in the company of locals? 

 

 

Did you let your wife go in ?

Does it bother you being labelled as a "Farang"....If it does let me give you a prescription, for a pair of Testicles..................

no

1 minute ago, sanuk711 said:

Does it bother you being labelled as a "Farang"....If it does let me give you a prescription, for a pair of Testicles..................

as I said in my OP, I try my best not to let it bother me but sometimes it gets too much.

I know I am a foreigner, but do I need to be reminded of that fact daily? 

If I was in company of Thais that knew me well and they didn't refer to me by name, I would question my choice of friends.....................Fot strangers, am not in the least bit bothered..............

I don't give a damn what other people think of me, although it is always better to be liked, it is more important what you think of yourself. I'm sure that there is no malicious intent on behalf of the Thais, and if there was, who cares. 

Just now, bojo said:

If I was in company of Thais that knew me well and they didn't refer to me by name, I would question my choice of friends....................

for my personal situation, I have known this set of Thai people almost a decade.

Friends of my wife mostly, so they are around regularly.

Nice enough people but once the drink starts flowing the F word always rears its ugly head!

No, as I neither listen to them or talk to them

3 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

No, as I neither listen to them or talk to them

Sounds like a decent strategy to apply.

However, in my current predicament, sadly impossible ???? 

To me being labeled a Farang by people as I enter stores or walk down side sois and when in crowds where they grab their partner and say Farang as I walk by is like being given the red carpet treatment.  Do you ever hear the Thais tell their wives or children to move over when another Thai walks by or needs by, I never have.  Makes me feel special while at the same time denigrated.  Hmmm a conundrum it seems.

15 minutes ago, WineOh said:

as I said in my OP, I try my best not to let it bother me but sometimes it gets too much.

I know I am a foreigner, but do I need to be reminded of that fact daily? 

One of the things I like about Thailand, is it doesn't have all that P.C. Bull***t , I worked on some building sites back in the UK in the 60s where I didn't even know the guys names after months.... (and they weren't even foreign ) Jock the bricklayer--Mick the plaster--Paddy the hod carrier. etc etc

No Malice--but now your not allowed to use these terms. Its not PC

Lets hope the snowflakes don't get too upset with something that has been used for eons, to just describe a white skin person.

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, WineOh said:

as I said in my OP, I try my best not to let it bother me but sometimes it gets too much.

I know I am a foreigner, but do I need to be reminded of that fact daily? 

Yes

1 minute ago, KC 71 said:

Yes

Why?

6 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

No, as I neither listen to them or talk to them

Bet they,re piffed about that!

35 minutes ago, WineOh said:

like it or not but the word Farang is a label.

And so is "Thai".

Let's take an everyday example when we talk about our wife/gf. Probably the first qualifier used is if she is Thai - and all the assumptions which are connected with that.

Farangs and Thais are different. There are extreme few farangs who are assimilated with Thai culture. And most farangs don't even try.

We call a duck a duck so why not call a farang a farang? 

40 minutes ago, WineOh said:

I'm sure this topic has been done to death on here before, but as of yet I haven't seen one.

My question is, when you are in the company of Thai people, say at a dinner, wedding or whatever, does it bother you when you are constantly referred to as the farang?

No.

I much prefer being called a Farang rather than 'old fat bar steward' which my Farang friends sometimes call me. ????

It doesn't bother me in the least.

 

After 12 months of being "the fat gweilo" in HK (as opposed to "the fat gweilo with beard" who was a colleague), or a little Korean kid in Seoul pointing and yelling excitedly "miguk, miguk" (actually means American) to all and sundry I'm pretty bomb proof.

 

In reality it rarely happens these days, the villagers call me by name (although our home will always be "Baan Farang"),  contractors and everyone in the office uses my name too usually prefixed with "khun" or "lung".

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And so is "Thai".

Thai is not, in the strictest sense, a generalization.

Thai is referring to a specific people from a specific country, Thai people from Thailand.

The word farang, however, IS a generalization as it refers to anyone with white skin, regardless of where they come from.

Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot, in the states or the UK you have an asian friend/colleague.

You all sit together having lunch in the canteen.

You wouldn't refer to him as 'the asian' all the time, would you?

You would call him by his first or last name.

I live in a remote village and I hear the term daily. The people who live here don't think about me that much, but anyone new has to point out that a farang is in the vicinity. I hear the word clear as day. It comes from kids, older people, visitors, tradesman, whoever happens to notice. And they talk about my wife  in terms like fan farang. For me it just shows that their culture is so insular they have no idea how other cultures might read this behavior. It would be easy to get offended, but that would ruin my peace of mind. Sure, sometimes it is meant as an insult, and certainly they make racist jokes about me. But I just treat everybody decent, and live my life. 

The one thing I would change if I could would be, that they would stop assuming that I don't know anything and laughing at whatever project I am working on. I hate it when they see I am doing something in a different way then they would do it, (usually the correct way) and they just step in and do it the way they know.

For example whenever I purchase something that needs to hauled in the back of the truck they either jump in and start tying the load down with their inefficient knots and twisting boards and tying them down with wire. Or they let me start to tie it down myself (I have proper tie downs and ratchet straps). They usually observe for about a minute until they see I am not doing it like they would do it, and then they jump on the truck and do it their way, leaving the ratchet straps unused, or worse they tie them like ropes. It is no big deal, the stuff gets home, but every time the result is they think they saved me from making a mistake, when they missed an opportunity to learn something new. And this pattern reoccurs anytime I working on something and they decide to help. For this reason I almost never ask for help. It is also the reason I try to shop without being detected by staff.

 

How about bumgun thread

I wear it as a badge of honour.

After all, if I'm a farang, I can't be Thai........

Am I bothered? Not really. It carries with it certain priviliges, a certain status. As the social hierarchy goes in Thailand, being labelled as a Farang ain't so bad; try being labelled as a Burmese migrant worker, if you want something to complain about.

3 minutes ago, Pravda said:

How about bumgun thread

We have had one but the bottom dropped out of it.

My name is  Zarley  Achtymichuk but Thai people call me the Farang or Metter ( for mister)...

Like a jukebox that keeps playing all the "hits" ! Yes been done many times.

 

No, I couldnt careless about being referred to as the foreigner in strange places. No one that actually knows me says it, they use my name (or just fall on their knees and bow their head.????)

 

As for the granmother in your story, she just assumed as a foreigner you had been travelling and may be carrying Covid. Reasonable, if not a wrong assumption. I have had that happen to me, until I state I havnt left Thailand for a number of years and the precaution is cleared.

 

What I dont get and find strange is how you can link "mistrust" into any of it, unless of course they dont trust you for some reason, might also explain why they wont use your name, only you know the answer to that.????

3 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

What I dont get and find strange is how you can link "mistrust" into any of it, unless of course they dont trust you for some reason, might also explain why they wont use your name, only you know the answer to that.

owch..!!

23 minutes ago, WineOh said:

Why?

 

So that you'll remember your place and don't put on airs.

Seriously, family members or the few friends we have calling me "farang" would be odd, but more something I'd make fun of, then be upset about. Anyone else, how are they supposed to call us? It's easy, it's mostly accurate, and it's a non-issue. Good luck with the next done-to-death "topic".

20 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

As for the granmother in your story, she just assumed as a foreigner you had been travelling and may be carrying Covid. Reasonable, if not a wrong assumption.

Too much assumption here if you ask me.

 

What's that old saying, don't judge a book by it's.....? ????