Why are westerners so offended over the word farang? Get over it.

[TigerandDog]

12 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

The Thai word for guava is "farang". I'm afraid you have been misinformed.

I've done the research for you..

 

“Farang”, the Thai word to describe white foreigners. It also means bird-droppings Farang'), also used in Lao, is slang commonly used as an insult to a person of white race, equivalent to white trash, as khi means feces and nok means bird, referring to the white color of bird-droppings - copied from Google

 

The Thai name “falang” is the Thai word for guavas. The name gives away the fact that guavas are not native to Thailand. - also copied from Google.

 

 

 

[grubman]

5 hours ago, Enoon said:

You were right to feel offended.

 

You checked in, they saw your name, you should have been indicated to and referred to as "Mr" or "Khun" whoever.

 

Instead you were referred to as the "fat white foreigner".

 

That is uncouth disrespect at its worst..........and in the "hospitality" industry!

 

At the very least you should have been referred to as "the guest", or person/man/woman, at the front of the queue,  "wearing......."  whatever you were wearing.

 

 

 

I totally agree in what you have said, i have worked in hospitailty all my life and have always been trained to use guest names and if you do not know their name you use Sir or Madam, 

 

Yes i was offended and i informed the on duty manager at the time expressed of disapointment, if i had not been processed in the checkin and unload my luggage from my bike i would have left and went to another hotel, i do many road trips and stay at many small cheaper hotel and have never had the same experiense as i has in the 5 star hotel in Chiang Mai, which was the last place i expected the comment to happen. 

 

 

[candide]

43 minutes ago, Henryford said:

I am white as well, still not offended. What do they call a coloured foreigner then?

Farang dam. Black farang.

[BangkokReady]

18 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

The Thai name “falang” is the Thai word for guavas. The name gives away the fact that guavas are not native to Thailand. - also copied from Google.

I have no clue how you are getting this so wrong, nor why you seem so triggered by this, but the Thai word for guava is farang.  That's just a fact.

 

Guava = ฝรั่ง (farang)  ????‍♂️

 

Here's some "research" for you:

 

http://www.thai-language.com/id/131256

 

https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=th&text=guava &op=translate

[transam]

14 hours ago, daejung said:

Farangset ฝรั่งเศส means french

but Farang  ฝรั่ง means foreigner

......and manfalang means potato..........

 

[Berkshire]

10 hours ago, KanchanaburiGuy said:

My wife has occasionally referred to black Americans as "black farangs." (Well, she says "falangs.") 

 

Then again, she calls Americans in America "farang"............. and fails to see the humor when I point out that while in America, SHE is the "farang" ("foreigner"), NOT the Americans! 

 

But you know what? 

 

She is so dead-set against me labeling her as a "farang," even in jest......... she is almost physically repulsed by the idea(!)............ that I MUST conclude there is a deep seated, inherent, negative connotation that goes with that name---that moniker---that lurks deep beneath the surface!

 

I mean, why else would she seem so truly OFFENDED by my calling her such............ even in jest......... unless she knew in her heart of hearts that it is, in fact, at its core, nothing but a derogatory term? 

Boy, you really don't get it.  She's annoyed because she's not a farang, which is a Caucasian person.  It would be like she calling you an Asian.  Would you be offended?  Or just annoyed because it's not correct.  

[transam]

10 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

It means white foreigner

Clearly racist

Offended? No

Not bothered by words

So if a Brit cop is chasing a crim and sends a radio message that he is in pursuit of an Asian male etc, then you reckon that is racist....?

[transam]

10 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

I have no clue how you are getting this so wrong, nor why you seem so triggered by this, but the Thai word for guava is farang.  That's just a fact.

 

Guava = ฝรั่ง (farang)  ????‍♂️

 

Here's some "research" for you:

 

http://www.thai-language.com/id/131256

 

https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=th&text=guava &op=translate

So you fink you are being called a pink fleshy squashy fruit.......????

 

But, you probably are.......????..........????

[BangkokReady]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

So you fink you are being called a pink fleshy squashy fruit.......????

 

But, you probably are.......????..........????

I've been called a lot worse... ????

 

But no, I'm merely stating that the Thai word for guava is "farang".

[jak2002003]

25 minutes ago, transam said:

So if a Brit cop is chasing a crim and sends a radio message that he is in pursuit of an Asian male etc, then you reckon that is racist....?

I would consider it racist if the cops were referring to Asians as something like 'coffee bean' or 'coconut'.

 

Identify someone as Asian is not racist.  Calling white people after a white coloured fruit seems a bit more racist though. 

 

[toofarnorth]

Gosh ! 17 pages on ferang/ferung/ferlung . I stopped at page 4 .

[transam]

Just now, jak2002003 said:

I would consider it racist if the cops were referring to Asians as something like 'coffee bean' or 'coconut'.

 

Identify someone as Asian is not racist.  Calling white people after a white coloured fruit seems a bit more racist though. 

 

I would've thought it was just being a bit fruity......????

[transam]

Just now, toofarnorth said:

Gosh ! 17 pages on ferang/ferung/ferlung . I stopped at page 4 .

But good fun to wind up the miserable lot......????....................????

[Excel]

1 minute ago, transam said:

But good fun to wind up the miserable lot......????....................????

That's true but some of posts are edging towards that slippery slope  

[Mayhem11]

As one poster said, when was visiting a newborn Thai granny said “ Mai chai. Ferang mai dii.” That was about Covid fears. I dislike the implication that if you are a Ferang that you are vilified as a Covid vector.

[gunner1]

many years ago I was told that "farang" was the Thai name for the french who occupied indo china prior to WW-2. I don't think it is meant to be offensive when used by the thai's in the west we refer to [people as, europeans, english. french ETC, they just have one word for everyone, However when someone referres to me personally I gently correct them in thai that I am not a falang, I am an American woks every time!

 

[transam]

11 minutes ago, Excel said:

That's true but some of posts are edging towards that slippery slope  

Yes, when you tread on a farang, ooops, Guava......????

[jing jing]

23 hours ago, Neeranam said:

No, I was replying to someone saying farang was for foreigners. I am not foreign, my nationality is Thai. 

Do you have a Thai passport?

[transam]

2 minutes ago, gunner1 said:

many years ago I was told that "farang" was the Thai name for the french who occupied indo china prior to WW-2. I don't think it is meant to be offensive when used by the thai's in the west we refer to [people as, europeans, english. french ETC, they just have one word for everyone, However when someone referres to me personally I gently correct them in thai that I am not a falang, I am an American woks every time!

 

I thought you were going to say, Quasimodo.....????

[Neeranam]

9 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

My wife will call me a farang, I'll call myself a farang with Thai's. My son will call himself a luk keung, both me and his Mom call him a luk keung, I don't think either of us are offended

I wouldn't dream of calling my kids look kreung(half-caste). 

I've always taught them that they are half nothing, they are 100% Thai and 100% Scottish, as I am too. 

Would Tiger Woods or Kenny Kravitz call themseves half-castes, or half Americans? 

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, jing jing said:

Do you have a Thai passport?

Yes, why?

[Time Traveller]

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but I assumed this article was satire because the answer to his question in the title is obvious to anyone with any kind of critical thinking skills.

 

No American would travel to Thailand and complain that Thai people they encounter don't know the difference between Kansas and Arkansas, so why would he complain that when he was in USA that Americans didn't know the difference between Thailand and Taiwan?   It's a joke article, right?

[TropicalGuy]

20 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Which Thai word would foreigners here prefer to be referred by as opposed to the one in general usage ever since farangs set foot on Thai soil?

Exactly. There HAS to be such a word so why not this one ? which I consider anyway a badge of respect & honour and never encountered it used negatively personally. ????????

[toofarnorth]

30 minutes ago, transam said:

But good fun to wind up the miserable lot......????....................????

Yes , maybe that is why I stopped at 4.   Cast out a line and reel them in. Ah but I may go back and look at more pages when I get bored.

[Berkshire]

13 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I wouldn't dream of calling my kids look kreung(half-caste). 

I've always taught them that they are half nothing, they are 100% Thai and 100% Scottish, as I am too. 

Would Tiger Woods or Kenny Kravitz call themseves half-castes, or half Americans? 

You seem to be offended by everything.  Luk kreung is certainly not an offensive term, simply a descriptive term used for people of mixed race.  Tiger Woods certainly wouldn't say he was "100% Thai and 100% black" because he's not.  He would simply say that he was mixed race, his mom being Thai and his father black (although his dad is mixed race himself).  

[toofarnorth]

18 minutes ago, transam said:

I thought you were going to say, Quasimodo.....????

Ah Quasimodo , he was a dead ringer for his brother. And , ...his face rang a bell. Now where did I find those ?

[TropicalGuy]

14 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I wouldn't dream of calling my kids look kreung(half-caste). 

I've always taught them that they are half nothing, they are 100% Thai and 100% Scottish, as I am too. 

Would Tiger Woods or Kenny Kravitz call themseves half-castes, or half Americans? 

No. “ half -caste” a less harsh version of “ half- breed” both absolutely derogatory but “ mixed race” or just nationality is fine. I have two daughters whose mum is Black and two sons with Thai & Latin mothers.  

[Neeranam]

8 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but I assumed this article was satire because the answer to his question in the title is obvious to anyone with any kind of critical thinking skills.

 

No American would travel to Thailand and complain that Thai people they encounter don't know the difference between Kansas and Arkansas, so why would he complain that when he was in USA that Americans didn't know the difference between Thailand and Taiwan?   It's a joke article, right?

Basically, Cod, it's the same as you being called Chinaman in the US, if you can't see why this is racist, you are not worth replying to. There was nothing racist about Chinaman, yet the Chinese rebelled against it. Farang here don't integrate the same as the Chinamen in the USA but I have a dream that one day, every  valley shall be exalted..... and all flesh shall see it together. 

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

You seem to be offended by everything.  Luk kreung is certainly not an offensive term, simply a descriptive term used for people of mixed race.  Tiger Woods certainly wouldn't say he was "100% Thai and 100% black" because he's not.  He would simply say that he was mixed race, his mom being Thai and his father black (although his dad is mixed race himself).  

Just your opinion, do you think half-caste is offensive? If so, why?

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, transam said:

......and manfalang means potato..........

 

Good point, Transam, thank you. The potato commonly eaten in the West is referred to as a man farang, or a foreign potato. The word farang here clearly means "foreign" or "Western". It isn't called "man farang" to mean "white boy potato." LOL.