As a farang, what is your Prime Directive here in Thailand? And, after bandying the word about, do you know the derivation of the term, farang? And, do you feel happy to be called "farang" by all who know you here?

[GammaGlobulin]

Just a few questions:

 

aa. Why are you here, as a farang?

 

Did you come for fun, only?  Did you hope to improve your life after a breakup? Did you come to learn the Thai language? Did you come to save the fauna here, including tigers and elephants?

 

Why are you here, really?

 

There must be an overriding reason.

 

So, what is it?

 

bb. So many farang can't spell farang, nor can they pronounce farang.

 

Some write farang as falang. They add an L in place of the R.

 

The reason they do this is because their falang ears are unable to discriminate the L and R sound in Thai, one might think.

 

cc. In fact, the term farang is rather interesting in its derivation, and I like it, much.

 

From Wikipedia, we can see that farang is a Persian word that originally referred to the Franks and later came to refer to White Europeans in general. 

 

dd.  Some guys don't seem to care, too much, for being called a farang, but I enjoy it.

 

ee. In Southeast Asia, a farang is a "person of white race".  Well then, I cannot say that I am not, since I am clearly white, meaning a person with less melanin.

 

ff.  Of course, there is also some slang related to the word farang which I will not discuss here.

 

gg.  You know, if we are students of language, then we should never become outraged by language, but only be thankful for the differences, and maintain our curiosity concerning the evolution of language.

 

For example, I am always happy to know that I might be called either a farang or a guava, which always used to make me smile, until I tired of this interesting sort of pun.

 

hh.  My advice is for you to investigate and research the multiplicity of meanings associated with the word farang.

 

Because, if you do, then you will be as proud as I, and also you will enjoy your research.

 

ii.  Finally, attacking the question, as posed above, then....

 

What is your main reason for coming here, in the first place?

 

Each of us might have several reasons for being here.

 

And, after a while, these first reasons become dull and boring.

 

And, after that, then we must find new and better reasons for being here.

 

However, one reason I am here, which will never die, is to keep learning the Thai language, even though, periodically, there have been setbacks in pursuing my goal.

 

I like to listen to the birds here in Thailand, which is another important pastime of mine.

 

I like to smell the air, here, too, which is low humidity in certain months. Coming from a country with extremely high humidity, being here, now, and smelling the air, is often invigorating, and I very much appreciate this effect.

 

Maybe I do not have the best set of reasons why I came to Thailand, from others' perspectives, but these reasons are good enough for me.

 

No doubt you have far better reasons for devoting the remaining years of your life to living here.

 

Here is a farang I found on Wikipedia, which, I think is quite nice, also quite a beautiful artwork, as well.

Really quite amazing.

 

Hopefully, this files size will be OK....

 

By the way....I want to say something.... (In case I have not said enough, so far)

 

For some reason, we have known of farang who, through misunderstanding, may not realize that being called a farang in Thailand is ===COMPLETELY ...... OK.===

 

Please do not worry about this. 

 

Being called a farang is quite a neutral term.

Therefore, just enjoy this, and never mistakenly take umbrage, because, .....then, ......one would be taking umbrage mistakenly, as everybody knows.

 

If you get clued in to the culture here, as soon as you can, then you will be doing yourself, and everybody else, a service.

 

 

 

 

 

[Paulaew]

My Prime Directive is not to interfere with the natural development of the alien civilization here.

 

We have to wait until they are ready for democracy, science and rational morality.

 

Paul Laew

[jerrymahoney]

27 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

dd.  Some guys don't seem to care, too much, for being called a farang, but I enjoy it.

I prefer Honky.

[itsari]

17 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

I prefer Honky.

I prefer caucasian 

[FalangTingTong]

44 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

The reason they do this is because their falang ears are unable to discriminate the L and R sound in Thai, one might think.

I’m sure your Thai is perfect but I am quite capable, as a beginner, of telling the difference between a Right Proper R and a chilled-out L-for-R.

 

And I usually say “Falang” on purpose because if I’m going to be known by my pinkish hue I want to at least keep a sense of humor about it.

 

My favorite use of the word, so far, is in Man-Farang (มันฝรั่ง) and not only because I am a Falang Man but also because it doesn’t come from Europe, but Whitey does kind of eat a lot of them, and to top it off, in Germany “Kartoffel” (same same) is a racist epithet used by non-(ethnic)-Germans against the indigenous.

 

Anyway, I’m here for the art.

[ramrod711]

I don't really care what Thai people call me, as long as they're smiling when they say it. The beauty of living here is that they usually are.

[farangnomore]

My impression is that Thais have a hard time distinguishing sounds "R" and "L".  Farang is only one word where many Thais pronounce "L" instead of "R", but there are tons of other words with similar mis-pronunciation.  I've seen even words spelled incorrectly in Thai. 

 

I went to Thailand for the food, great weather and people.  Once I figure out the culture, I left it, mostly because of the people (tiny minority, but rather poisonous, unfortunately). 

[CharlieH]

Prime directive, dont interfere ! Let Thais deal with Thai things whenever possible.

 

Farang:  depends whose saying it and the tone used.

If a family member, my wife etc used it referring to me I woukd be upset. I also dont like wives of others referring to their spouse in such a manner, I think its disrespectful in that context. Other than that I dont care.

 

Why am I here: I came on holiday, met the wife, the country seemed alot better in many ways than where I cam from so we settled here. Slowly as time progressed the ties to the old country were severed and being honest in that time the homeland evolved beyond all recognition and is not somewhere I would choose to be.

[Ralf001]

Back in my home country people call me a <deleted>... Farang is a refreshing change.

[Peterw42]

I came here for the fjords and year long snow skiing, I didn't do much research.

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

19 minutes ago, FalangTingTong said:

I’m sure your Thai is perfect but I am quite capable, as a beginner, of telling the difference between a Right Proper R and a chilled-out L-for-R.

 

And I usually say “Falang” on purpose because if I’m going to be known by my pinkish hue I want to at least keep a sense of humor about it.

 

My favorite use of the word, so far, is in Man-Farang (มันฝรั่ง) and not only because I am a Falang Man but also because it doesn’t come from Europe, but Whitey does kind of eat a lot of them, and to top it off, in Germany “Kartoffel” (same same) is a racist epithet used by non-(ethnic)-Germans against the indigenous.

 

Anyway, I’m here for the art.

Obviously, your are in the pink, in both mind and spirit.

 

Are you too young to recall the term, pinko? As in referring to communism?

 

Also, thankfully, the term PINKO has taken on more liberal connotations, recently, and has been resurrected in a far more positive way.

 

As is always true, my friend, to poke fun at oneself, and even to poke fun at one's own pinkness, or pinkishness, takes the gas out of any barb others might cast one's way.

 

Also, since you say you are here for the art, .... then.... what art, per se?

 

Is there any fine art in all of history which is pink?

 

Besides this.......?

 

 

 

 

 

[FalangTingTong]

2 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Is there any fine art in all of history which is pink?

http://www.rama9art.org/manit_s/pink1.html
 

[GammaGlobulin]

23 minutes ago, farangnomore said:

My impression is that Thais have a hard time distinguishing sounds "R" and "L".  Farang is only one word where many Thais pronounce "L" instead of "R", but there are tons of other words with similar mis-pronunciation.  I've seen even words spelled incorrectly in Thai. 

 

I went to Thailand for the food, great weather and people.  Once I figure out the culture, I left it, mostly because of the people (tiny minority, but rather poisonous, unfortunately). 

When you say tiny and poisonous....

 

Do you mean that you were not able to tolerate the tiny hot chili pepper that we love so much in Asia?

 

 

 

So many women, all throughout Asia, are as hot as these chili peppers.

 

Maybe, too hot for you?

 

[KannikaP]

32 minutes ago, farangnomore said:

My impression is that Thais have a hard time distinguishing sounds "R" and "L".  Farang is only one word where many Thais pronounce "L" instead of "R",

My Mrs thinks that every morning I am going to put a cross against someone's name on a ballot paper.   LOL

[Peterw42]

There is no high science when it comes to Thai English translations. Its not like there is an official book with the pronunciation, spelling, even meaning of Thai words in English. Often we see a phonetic translation (how it sounds) rather than the correct spelling etc.

Lots of Asian languages don't have or use a hard R sound, and all languages have silent/dropped letters that are sometimes not pronounced or skipped in day to day speech. Nobody ever says the r sound in the word dollar.

There are many sounds in asian languages that dont have an English equivalent or letter ngh, bph etc. its not incorrect, it often has no direct translation

[GammaGlobulin]

19 minutes ago, FalangTingTong said:

http://www.rama9art.org/manit_s/pink1.html
 

Thank you for your example of LOW ART in your posted link.

 

I only meant that there are few examples of fine art, using the color pink.

 

Fine art, also referred to as “high art,” has long been held up as the highest standard of artistic expression. Fine artists make work that is purely created to be aesthetically pleasing. The aesthetic purpose distinguishes the fine arts from the “low arts” which are traditionally designed for more practical purposes.

 

Of course, there are other colors in fine films, such as the film, The Color Purple.

[BritManToo]

48 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Farang:  depends whose saying it and the tone used.

If a family member, my wife etc used it referring to me I woukd be upset. I also dont like wives of others referring to their spouse in such a manner, I think its disrespectful in that context. Other than that I dont care.

I refuse to associate with anyone that uses racial slurs, in English or foreign language.

If it was in my home, I wouldn't allow them to enter again.

If it was in their home, I wouldn't visit them again.

If it was at a table in a bar/coffee shop/restaurant, I'd move to another table.

If it was in a forum, I'd put them on ignore.

 

In some ways it's worse if it's a white person, they should know better.

Locals have the excuse of ignorance ........ but only once or twice.

[GammaGlobulin]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

Prime directive, dont interfere ! Let Thais deal with Thai things whenever possible.

 

Farang:  depends whose saying it and the tone used.

If a family member, my wife etc used it referring to me I woukd be upset. I also dont like wives of others referring to their spouse in such a manner, I think its disrespectful in that context. Other than that I dont care.

 

Why am I here: I came on holiday, met the wife, the country seemed alot better in many ways than where I cam from so we settled here. Slowly as time progressed the ties to the old country were severed and being honest in that time the homeland evolved beyond all recognition and is not somewhere I would choose to be.

"the homeland evolved beyond all recognition"

 

NAILED IT!

 

Just 6 words.

 

Anyone who has been here, or there, for awhile, understands these six words, in a way that others cannot.

 

Nailed it.

 

((One can NEVER return to a place, or a home country, that no longer exists.  Just ask Christopher Reeve. Somewhere in Time.)  Reeve struggled valiantly. And, even Superman met his kryptonite, in the end.)) 

 

We are somewhere in time, or somewhere in Thailand......stuck between....  And.... Loving it....!

 

 

 

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed.

Please do not discuss/comment on other members.

[GammaGlobulin]

15 minutes ago, Victornoir said:

Once and for all GG Farangi (foreigner in Persian) gave Franc, then France, Français, Farang set, Farang.

And I, who am French, am always Farang set in the village.

 

No mockery in this term.

CORRECT!

 

Absolutely, ZERO mockery in this term, as you say.

 

One's best friends refer to one as farang, as I do, also, to myself.

 

I wish that we could take out the misperceived false meaning in this very neutral term.

 

Doing so, would be good.

 

(the word farang has ZERO negative connotations attached to it.  Zero!)

[473geo]

I'm easy with names, after all most Thai go by nicknames anyway.

I also notice how Thai call each other fat and it doesn't appear to cause offence. This may of course change as the PC brigade take an interest,  then maybe Farang will be called into question too, as I say not really concerned

 

Why am I here, visited Thailand for over 30 years had fantastic experiences, then met my wife who was the first woman I really felt I could settle down with.

She raised our son and daughter while I worked in the UK, we built a home and bought a little land over the years. All for my wife and children that they will survive in the future.

Feb 2021 negotiated a little redundancy to ease me into retirement with my family in Thailand, as I sit now in the warm glow of my family and  surroundings, contemplating another eventful day, I feel I have made a great choice ????

[GammaGlobulin]

3 minutes ago, 473geo said:

I'm easy with names, after all most Thai go by nicknames anyway.

I also notice how Thai call each other fat and it doesn't appear to cause offence. This may of course change as the PC brigade take an interest,  then maybe Farang will be called into question too, as I say not really concerned

 

Why am I here, visited Thailand for over 30 years had fantastic experiences, then met my wife who was the first woman I really felt I could settle down with.

She raised our son and daughter while I worked in the UK, we built a home and bought a little land over the years. All for my wife and children that they will survive in the future.

Feb 2021 negotiated a little redundancy to ease me into retirement with my family in Thailand, as I sit now in the warm glow of my family and  surroundings, contemplating another eventful day, I feel I have made a great choice ????

BEAUTIFUL.

 

Your story is an example of one of the many stories that, although they surely exist, we rarely hear enough about.

[Guest Isaanlife]

I am kind of partial to "Hey You".

[papa al]

2 hours ago, itsari said:

I prefer caucasian 

I long to visit Caucasia,

the Caucas Mountains,

mother-land of

my race.

[StayinThailand2much]

Do we still talk about the word "farang"? - Many Thais now call us "hot dog", "D dog", "toilet", "falang Covid", or "mafia". 

[StayinThailand2much]

3 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Some write farang as falang. They add an L in place of the R.

99% of Thais pronounce it as 'falang', so why don't you? 

[GammaGlobulin]

2 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Do we still talk about the word "farang"? - Many Thais now call us "hot dog", "D dog", "toilet", "falang Covid", or "mafia". 

After so many years, I have DEFINITELY never heard these terms applied to me, or to anyone.

 

We here in Thailand are just too polite for such.

[Gottfrid]

Prime directive: Avoid getting annoyed by people who post nosy and irrelevant posts on TV.

Reason for being here: It´s the best place in the world for me.

 

The Farang concerns: People who know me and my friends do not call me farang. They call me by name, so I have never had a problem with that.

[Thailand]

18 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Obviously, not enough.

 

We need MORE, just, and until, the falang learn how to say farang...

 

Right?

The answer is NO.

I refer to the earlier post of Ezzra.

[Doctor Tom]

I don't understand the questions