Does it bother you being labelled as a "Farang" when in the company of Thais?

[polpott]

1 hour ago, Isaan sailor said:

It’s primarily an Isaan or upcountry label, as they have very few westerners in the local village.  I rarely hear it in Bangkok, other cities or the beach areas—if ever.  In my Isaan village we now have two farang houses, with a third on the way. So “farang bahn” doesn’t work anymore at the post office.

Nothing of the sort. I hear it all the time and use it all the time in Pattaya. The Issan word for "ferang" is "baxi da".

[flossie35]

No, why should it?

[ThailandRyan]

Guess, I am a Guava now.  At least that's what the Thai's call the fruit Guava "Farang"

It turns out to be a play on words. Eat a Guava in front of your Thai friends and they will be saying while trying not to laugh “Farang eats farang.” However, there are a number of products imported to Thailand from Europe that are called the word farang.

 

Farang - Wikipedia

 

Now I know who the Farangi on Star Trek are named after, never knew until today.

[itsari]

I wish to add to your inquiry if it is offensive to refer to somebody as farang . I have lived here six years yet I hear my neighbor's still refer to me as a farang . Yet they do know my name . I consider being named  as a farang rather than my name offensive . But i do understand that Thai people are brought up that way . I have questioned many Thais why they do this when Farang is not all that precise only in that you are not Asian . They do not understand , simple as that . Take a life time to change there ways . My expected life time is not long enough to see change . 

[polpott]

1 minute ago, itsari said:

I wish to add to your inquiry if it is offensive to refer to somebody as farang . I have lived here six years yet I hear my neighbor's still refer to me as a farang . Yet they do know my name . I consider being named  as a farang rather than my name offensive . But i do understand that Thai people are brought up that way . I have questioned many Thais why they do this when Farang is not all that precise only in that you are not Asian . They do not understand , simple as that . Take a life time to change there ways . My expected life time is not long enough to see change . 

You are living in Thailand, why should they change? You need to change. You are a ferang, get over it. I even refer to myself as a ferang.

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, itsari said:

I wish to add to your inquiry if it is offensive to refer to somebody as farang . I have lived here six years yet I hear my neighbor's still refer to me as a farang . Yet they do know my name . I consider being named  as a farang rather than my name offensive . But i do understand that Thai people are brought up that way . I have questioned many Thais why they do this when Farang is not all that precise only in that you are not Asian . They do not understand , simple as that . Take a life time to change there ways . My expected life time is not long enough to see change . 

Yes, we have to be patient with them chinamen.

[Muzzique]

Just now, oldhippy said:

 I consider being named  as a farang rather than my name offensive . 

 

Then go live somewhere else.

 

It's their country and they can call you what they like. 

 

Stop whingeing and focus on something more important.

 

[thecyclist]

I think the OP is spot on. Like him it sometimes doesn't bother me at all,and at other times it pisses me off. All depends on who says it, how (intonation), in what situation,and also on my mood. I prefer it to  when they scream hey youuuuu at you. I certainly prefer it to be called a farang khee nok, kwaiy,farang kuai, (all things I have been called numerous times). LOS is, lets face it, in spite of the smiles a very xenophobic country. While there are  nice Thais that genuinely welcome us, there are a lot more that deep down envy or hate us or welcome our lucre only. 8

 

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, Muzzique said:

 

Then go live somewhere else.

 

It's their country and they can call you what they like. 

 

Stop whingeing and focus on something more important.

 

Does the same apply in my country when I see an African?

[itsari]

Just now, Muzzique said:

 

Then go live somewhere else.

 

It's their country and they can call you what they like. 

 

Stop whingeing and focus on something more important.

 

I will choose to leave this country if the labelling gets too much . Yet I am sure I can cope . All countries can improve with there old habits . 

[WineOh]

6 minutes ago, Muzzique said:

It's their country and they can call you what they like. 

 

Stop whingeing and focus on something more important.

Not a great response at all.

[WineOh]

4 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Does the same apply in my country when I see an African?

exactly mate.

[Stevemercer]

I don't mind it. I don't notice it so much in my home town.

 

But sometimes it gets a bit boring, particularly when out riding my bicycle. Going through a new village,, off the highway, every man, woman and child has to yell out 'farang' to alert the villagers further down the road. And so it proceeds through the whole village.

 

Of course, everyone is friendly, smiling and waving, but it is impossible to make a quiet pass through any village.

[ThailandRyan]

3 minutes ago, Stevemercer said:

I don't mind it. I don't notice it so much in my home town.

 

But sometimes it gets a bit boring, particularly when out riding my bicycle. Going through a new village,, off the highway, every man, woman and child has to yell out 'farang' to alert the villagers further down the road. And so it proceeds through the whole village.

 

Of course, everyone is friendly, smiling and waving, but it is impossible to make a quiet pass through any village.

There alerting the families to lock up their daughters so they don't run off with the Hansum man, or the kids don't get eaten by the Foreign beast.

[Cake Monster]

18 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Guess, I am a Guava now.  At least that's what the Thai's call the fruit Guava "Farang"

It turns out to be a play on words. Eat a Guava in front of your Thai friends and they will be saying while trying not to laugh “Farang eats farang.” However, there are a number of products imported to Thailand from Europe that are called the word farang.

 

Farang - Wikipedia

 

Now I know who the Farangi on Star Trek are named after, never knew until today.

This was how the slang word " Farang " came to be.

People with White Skin have been called Farang because of our Skin Colour, and Thais seem to relish the fact that the Guava Fruit Flesh is the white colour also.

Farang means the flesh of the Guava Fruit and is ripe for feasting on in many ways in Thailand.

[itsari]

1 minute ago, Cake Monster said:

This was how the slang word " Farang " came to be.

People with White Skin have been called Farang because of our Skin Colour, and Thais seem to relish the fact that the Guava Fruit Flesh is the white colour also.

Farang means the flesh of the Guava Fruit and is ripe for feasting on in many ways in Thailand.

Farang Set is I believe the name of a Frenchman . 

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, Cake Monster said:

This was how the slang word " Farang " came to be.

People with White Skin have been called Farang because of our Skin Colour, and Thais seem to relish the fact that the Guava Fruit Flesh is the white colour also.

Farang means the flesh of the Guava Fruit and is ripe for feasting on in many ways in Thailand.

Maybe.

But there could be a different explaination.

In French Polynesia they call Frenchmen "farani" - and who were the first Europeans to come to Thailand?

 

[thecyclist]

9 minutes ago, polpott said:

You are living in Thailand, why should they change? You need to change. You are a ferang, get over it. I even refer to myself as a ferang.

Yeah, I often refer to myself as farang.Black Americans call each other the N word. Have you as a Caucasian tried calling an N you are not friends with,an N. Not recommended. The F word is, of course, not as derogatory as the N word, but neither is it a term of endearment. In 'hey you farang' it is almost as racist as the N word. After 30 years In LOS, I moved to Vietnam 3 years,and sometimes refer to myself and other whites as farang, so ingrained has this self reference become.By the way, the Vietnamese refer to us as Nước ngoài (land foreign), short for Người nước ngoài (person land foreign),a little less offensive than being called a guava /baksida. 

[bermondburi]

Ferrang, Parma, Negro, Khehk, Check? 

 

Should have a vote on the most popular to be called. 

 

I know which ones I don't want to be called. 

[EVENKEEL]

Don't care what you call me but hey how about picking up the tab every now and then you Thai folks,

[DJ54]

I don’t hear it much when I’m out about in Village or in town... although the extended family say it a lot but doesn’t bother 

me.. in China 10+ years was Lao wei.. 

 

it burns the in laws chaps when I tell them their Farang..mixed

lao Thai.... which they are.. all in fun but makes them think.. 

 

most of my younger years lived south of Los Angeles and there is

a big diversity of social and ethnic backgrounds... people are called

by their name.,...and  their are some that rudely use ethnic slang towards others but I think the world is changing at least I hope so..

 

 

[itsari]

6 minutes ago, bermondburi said:

Ferrang, Parma, Negro, Khehk, Check? 

 

Should have a vote on the most popular to be called. 

 

I know which ones I don't want to be called. 

Farrang maybe?

[Curt1591]

I don't know who you hang with. But, around me, Thais I associate with refer to me as "Khun Curt".

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, Curt1591 said:

I don't know who you hang with. But, around me, Thais I associate with refer to me as "Khun Curt".

And the ones you don't hang with?

[Presnock]

to tell the truth, I would rather be labelled a Farang rather than a Thai!

 

[nickmondo]

10 hours 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?

 

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? 

 

 

the woman that said about Covid is just thick mate.

yes, farang annoys me as well

but i dont expect anything else.

they are not nice people here.  obviously some are, but generally not, in my opinion

 

[pacovl46]

Farang (Thai: ฝรั่ง, [faràŋ], colloquially [falàŋ]) is a Thai term for people from western countries no matter where they may come from; the Americas, Europe, etc. The term is also used for white Latin Americans and light skinned Latinos. Not all Latinos however, brown skinned Latin-Americans are often confused with Arabs in Thailand, and thus are not considered to be Farang. The Royal Institute Dictionary from 1999, the official Thai dictionary dictionary,, defines the word as "a person of white race". The term is also blended into everyday terms meaning "of/from the white race" such as: man farang (Thai: มันฝรั่ง; "farang yam") meaning potato, no mai farang (Thai: หน่อไม้ฝรั่ง; "farang shoot") meaning asparagus, and achan farang (Thai: อาจารย์ฝรั่ง; "farangprofessor") which is the nickname of the influential figure in Thai art history, Italian art professor Silpa Bhirasri. The word also means guava in Thai.

 

The term originated in Persia and referred to the Francs.

 

Once I was told that farang means Caucasian it never bothered me at all. Also, Thais that know you well will usually refer to you by your name, unless they talk to Thais that don’t know you. That’s at least my experience. At the end of the day, it’s just one of many things they do differently from our western cultures and there’s no point in getting bent out of shape over it because it’s not gonna change! 

Edited February 14, 2021 by pacovl46

[Bradmeister]

Op,

 

As it should bother you as its racist.

 

Pure and simple. 

 

Its up to you to educate your friends.

 

  If you live in Germany,  you are an outsider.

If you live in Japan, you are Not Japanese.

If you live in almost any Latin country you are 

A white man.

If you live in America, you are an immigrant. 

 

All of these are racist and often used by the poor or uneducated. 

 

A few months back, I visited family friends from over 6 years ago.... They had already taught they're 4 year old daughter (or perhaps kindergarten)  to say Foreigner. Not a Man, Not a guest to they're house, not a friend of the family. 

 

They were instantly ashamed and apologized for their daughters outcry.

 

Its up to all of us to learn the language here, understand the laws and Proclamations of the Monarchy and teach young Thais to have more social skills and less bigotry. 

 

I am a man, I am a resident, I am a tax payer, home owner, and just like everyone else here, A subject of the King. 

 

 

[GreasyFingers]

I understand where the OP is coming from. All of the wife's family call me by my name, but my wife when in conversation with them always refers to me as farang. Have not bothered to ask her why but assume that it is easier for her or them.

When we take the car/bike for a service in the local village, where my wife is known by her nickname, they will refer to her as mia farang when she gives her phone number to call when ready. Cannot understand that either but maybe it is the Thai way, always do what is easy.

Does it bother me? Not really, apart from not not understanding why.

[pacovl46]

1 minute ago, Bradmeister said:

Op,

 

As it should bother you as its racist.

 

Pure and simple. 

 

Its up to you to educate your friends.

 

  If you live in Germany,  you are an outsider.

If you live in Japan, you are Not Japanese.

If you live in almost any Latin country you are 

A white man.

If you live in America, you are an immigrant. 

 

All of these are racist and often used by the poor or uneducated. 

 

A few months back, I visited family friends from over 6 years ago.... They had already taught they're 4 year old daughter (or perhaps kindergarten)  to say Foreigner. Not a Man, Not a guest to they're house, not a friend of the family. 

 

They were instantly ashamed and apologized for their daughters outcry.

 

Its up to all of us to learn the language here, understand the laws and Proclamations of the Monarchy and teach young Thais to have more social skills and less bigotry. 

 

I am a man, I am a resident, I am a tax payer, home owner, and just like everyone else here, A subject of the King. 

 

 

I totally disagree on the racism part! If you’re white then you’re white and not Latin American or Japanese! It’s that simple, just like Blacks aren’t Caucasians and that’s all there is to it! When Thais refer to you as a Falang it’s not malicious like most racist comments would be and that’s the difference.