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

[Neeranam]

13 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

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?

Strangely, when I meet some US people, they say things like 'I am from CA' as if other nationalities should know US state abbreviations to which I reply, "I'm from Kincard". 

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, candide said:

Farang dam. Black farang.

Further evidence that farang is colloquially used as a catch-all for  foreigners. Farang dam means 'black foreigner.' It doesn't mean "a black-skinned white person."

[jing jing]

19 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? 

Would it be ok by your reckoning to call my kids Amerasian?  I speak Thai and my wife speaks English, and to our knowledge the use of the the term "luuk kreung" to describe children of half Asian and half Caucasian parentage is not derogatory, nor does it translate to "half caste." Please point me to any evidence you have to the contrary.

[Neeranam]

13 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

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?

Strangely, when I meet some US people, they say things like 'I am from CA' as if other nationalities should know US state abbreviations to which I reply, "I'm from Kincard". 

[Berkshire]

9 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

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

I'm an American, don't hear "half-caste" used much.  Don't hear "half-breed" used much either, mostly just mixed race. 

[VocalNeal]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

"half-breed"

Technically we are all half-breed. Half our mother, half our father.

[jing jing]

29 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Yes, why?

Then you are are a Thai citizen, but you are obviously not ethnically Thai.  Maybe Scottish-Thai would be appropriate -- as in African American.

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

I'm an American, don't hear "half-caste" used much.  Don't hear "half-breed" used much either, mostly just mixed race. 

Right, all racial terms become derogatory/offensive over time, why should the ones in Thailand be any different?

[Neeranam]

10 minutes ago, jing jing said:

Would it be ok by your reckoning to call my kids Amerasian?  I speak Thai and my wife speaks English, and to our knowledge the use of the the term "luuk kreung" to describe children of half Asian and half Caucasian parentage is not derogatory, nor does it translate to "half caste." Please point me to any evidence you have to the contrary.

Yes, that's OK for the moment. My kids are Eurasian. 

Using 'half' anything can lead to psychological problems of "less-worthy" in later life.  

When a certain type of racial Thai asks about my kids' nationalities, I tell them just to say they are Thai, which they do. To some, especially older ones, it's OK to explain they are of mixed race. Racial words are strange, they change all the time in offensiveness. 

Does Albert Thongchai MycIntyre say he's a luuk-kreung?

 

[NanLaew]

13 hours ago, Neeranam said:

14 hours ago, NanLaew said:

"Us..."?

 

"We..."?

farang

Not me and I'm (still a Scottish) farang with ALL of my own home-grown, deeply-ingrained, cultural bigotries intact.

 

Maybe it's just the woke farangs who aren't very happy with where their parents hatched them?

[NanLaew]

21 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Strangely, when I meet some US people, they say things like 'I am from CA' as if other nationalities should know US state abbreviations to which I reply, "I'm from Kincard". 

Kincardine-on-Forth or Kincardine O'Neil?

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Not me and I'm (still a Scottish) farang with ALL of my own home-grown, deeply-ingrained, cultural bigotries intact.

 

Maybe it's just the woke farangs who aren't very happy with where their parents hatched them?

You are not farang? What are you on about?

 

 

[Neeranam]

12 minutes ago, jing jing said:

Then you are are a Thai citizen, but you are obviously not ethnically Thai.  Maybe Scottish-Thai would be appropriate -- as in African American.

I would be a Thai citizen even without a passport. That document is only for travelling. 

Thai/British dual citizen and racially a farang or Caucasian.  

There really is no need to point out my race, but it happens frequently and often offensive.

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Kincardine-on-Forth or Kincardine O'Neil?

Banchory, which was Kincardinshire or the Mearns but now Aberdeenshire. I have said 'Grampian' to make it easier but most still have never heard of it.  Kincardine ceased to exist before the US was discovered. 

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Purdey said:

19 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

None of that is true.  Farang simply means foreigner.  A Back Brit, or Black US citizen would also be called a farang. 

Sorry but that is not correct. Black people are never called farang. Read this

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farang#:~:text='bird-droppings Farang'),are often called farang varieties.

You are aware that wiki isn't the Encyclopedia Britannica and that statements, comments and facts stated therein can be personal opinions and hearsay that hasn't been moderated yet.

 

I would wager that a lot of contributors to wiki are farangs as well.

[TropicalGuy]

24 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

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

It is in western use. no idea how Thais use it though. Factual or Derogatory ? Poster said Factual. 
Superficial race judgements seem to be hardwired by evolutionary need to know “ where” people are from so giving ( wrongly) “ who” they are….

 

My DNA Spit Test by ancestry.com gave 40% Scottish (Mum) , 40% English (Dad), 12% Saxon (German) , 8% Scandinavian (Viking). Was hoping for less Saxon & more Viking …..????????????

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

There are a lot more farang outside Isarn. 'farang'  has no 's' btw ???? 

So the enclave of Farangistan is a myth?

 

Proper gutted I am. Gutted.

[Berkshire]

6 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

How can he or she be offensive?

 

America is a racial country, I know, they never let blacks vote, even in my lifetime. It's a very racial country, lets not let Thailand go the same way. 

 

The "he or she" thing relates to some people who want to be referred to as non-binary.  That is, they are neither he nor she. 

 

As for America, blacks can vote...so not sure what you're referring to (back in the day?).  Thailand can never be like the west in terms of racial disparity because there isn't the same history of racial discrimination and hatred.  But if certain farangs come over with their racist baggage and nutty ideas, then yeah, Thailand could go the same way. 

[TropicalGuy]

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

You are aware that wiki isn't the Encyclopedia Britannica and that statements, comments and facts stated therein can be personal opinions and hearsay that hasn't been moderated yet.

 

I would wager that a lot of contributors to wiki are farangs as well.

both sources contain same very small amount of proportionate errors. Read a comparison study once.,wiki has more errors as it gives way more subject data than EB.

Wiki is excellent as one stop shop to quickly learn about anything unknown or needing more detail. 
Obviously a PHD thesis would not use wiki or EB ! 

[NanLaew]

6 hours ago, Levi Patterson said:

I think most of us that have lived here for a while aren’t offended by being called farang. I’m a black American and spent my formative years and beyond in the Jim Crow South. Americans have labels and made up names for everyone—it seems to me. If you walk with a limp, some will call you “gimp”. I first came to Thailand in the mid-sixties (Vietnam era). Then, some Thais referred to me as dum dum (black) or ne-co (their transliteration for negro) and some called me farang. Personally, I’ve never been offended by any of these labels. Back in the mid-sixties, I was a military policeman, stationed in Korat. I recall returning to my living quarters on base, around midnight. I had been partying downtown and had to report to work at 4:00 AM. When I walked into the barracks, two airmen were involved in what appeared to be a serious altercation. I knew these two had been friends: one was of Irish descent and the other was of the Jewish faith. They had been calling each other by the so-called offensive labels  which was supposedly attributed to their ethnicity. I separated them and thought they had gone to sleep. I left for work around 3:00 AM. Later that day, I learned that the two had awakened and continued their name calling. One of them threw the other off the second story balcony which caused a near fatality. I was at work when the incident took place. However, ironically, I was called in on the carpet for not preventing these heretofore friends from trying to kill each other. For me, living in Thailand is humbling. I’m treated nicer here than in my own country. The offensive name calling thing seems to me as being primarily western. I don’t pay any attention to it.

Excellent.

 

This should end the farang debate but it won't.

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, JRG23 said:

But I like it when I am treated exactly the same as locals.

And the locals like it when you think you're being treated exactly the same as them.

[kimamey]

On 4/21/2022 at 9:02 AM, mtls2005 said:

Who's offended?

 

No one I know.

 

Should I be?

 

Time for a poll? Simple, up or down.

 

 

No I'm not offended unless it's said in an aggressive or negative manner. Grandad Farang is pushing it a bit though. But I grit my teeth which are still my own. ????

 

The writer seems to have some serious issues. Complaining of generalising as Chinese or Asian and using USA, West and Europe.  One country and the rest so no generalising there then.

 

What about the continual complaints about what to call non whites and homosexual and bisexuals? In the UK there complaints about describing someone as black when they weren't. It should be coloured. Then it shouldn't because that's a word that was used in the US which the UK isn't part of. There was video in the late 60s of rooms to rent that had signs saying 'no blacks, Irish or Gypsies' so why is 'black' ok?.

'Queer' was insulting now it isn't. 

Now black is written with an uppercase 'B' but white isn't.

 

I seem to remember gays and so some extent non whites complaining that they aren't treated like anyone else due to their colour or sexual orientation which I agreed with. Now they are in their own communities and are allowed to have parades so they can tell everyone how proud they are of it. I'm not sure if those who are white and/or gay are allowed to do that. 

 

There are a lot of issues around prejudice but it isn't helped by constantly trying to find something to complain and be offended about. 

 

Obviously as I'm on here it's no surprise my wife isn't white. I have to be honest and say there's a lot of pressure on her to be more white but none of it comes from me. It comes from manufacturers making whitening creams and Thai media where all Thais are white unless they are old and poor and living in a village or working for rich Thais with white skin. That and the fact there aren't any clothing adverts using darker skinned Thais as there are in my country is what I find offensive. 

 

Sorry about the rant. ????

[NanLaew]

9 hours ago, nitpicker said:

I agree with the stated view here that it is the tone of voice that makes a difference but a particular experience showed me how entrenched in Thai attitude the word is. A grandfather on his motorbike and sidecar crossed two lanes of traffic to where I was standing in order to teach his young granddaughter what a farang is. The pointing that went with the little girl's 'education' was, surely by any standard, very rude.  Sorry but I'm unlikely to "get over it". 

 

Why on earth not? So some old hick on a saleng has pointed you out as a foreigner to some kid?

 

Were you naked or something? Spinach stuck on your teeth? Bad hair day?

[TropicalGuy]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

The "he or she" thing relates to some people who want to be referred to as non-binary.  That is, they are neither he nor she. 

 

As for America, blacks can vote...so not sure what you're referring to (back in the day?).  Thailand can never be like the west in terms of racial disparity because there isn't the same history of racial discrimination and hatred.  But if certain farangs come over with their racist baggage and nutty ideas, then yeah, Thailand could go the same way. 

Replace “ discrimination & hatred” with “ diversity” . Thailand highly homogenous with fundamental South Chinese ( “Tai” Ethnic) DNA from the start 800 years ago and (I think / no evidence) highly racist. little integration with indigenous  people they found here like (now) Hill Tribes ( Mon / Karen). 

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

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.

 

 

 

LOL... "copied from Google"

 

That's worse than using wiki for a citation.

[toofarnorth]

38 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

I'm an American, don't hear "half-caste" used much.  Don't hear "half-breed" used much either, mostly just mixed race. 

I have heard Cher singing about half breeds.

[NanLaew]

2 hours 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....?

In Rotherham, it would be stating the bleeding obvious, no?

[Berkshire]

2 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

I have heard Cher singing about half breeds.

5555....yes, I know the song.  From a long time ago.

[maake55555]

I'm not at all offended by the word.  No one has ever addressed me as farang!

[NanLaew]

1 hour 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).  

That would make Tiger a quadroon then.

 

What's the Thai word for that?

 

(rhetorical question, never mind)