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

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

I was always taught Thai language insists the correct honorific should be added before a humans label.

Something not required for animals .............

 

So in Thai language calling a person 'farang' would be rude.

But calling a person 'khun farang', 'lung farang', 'pee farang', etc would be polite.

 

When a Thai person calls me 'farang', by the rules of their own culture, they are being rude.

And I treat them ass such.

 

When a non-Thai calls me 'farang', they are being stupid, as I speak English, and they usually speak English too.

When using 'farang', Thais use  'mun'(it).  They never say 'khon farang' but do with Asians, ie khon Jeen or Khon Yeepun

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

When using 'farang', Thais use  'mun'(it).  They never say 'khon farang' but do with Asians, ie khon Jeen or Khon Yeepun

I agree, it's a clear insult.

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, dinsdale said:

Farangses is Thai for France.

Faranset.

 

Farang comes from the Persian word for the German group of early traveller called Franks.

[Neeranam]

All racial words become offensive over time, full stop. 

 

Thais don't say names but 'pee' or 'nong'. Thialand has a strict hierarchical society and Thais ask relevant questions when meeting someone to find out if they are 'senior' or 'junior' in order to consequently use 'pee' or 'nong'. Some, if not most farang don't integrate or speak the language so don't reach the bottom rung of this hierarchical ladder. 

 

Same with 'kaek' and 'jek'. 

 

If a Chinese Thai calls me farang, I sometimes use 'jek' to see if they like it, which they don't. 

[Naroge]

Who's offended? Not me or any of my farang friends.

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, Naroge said:

Who's offended? Not me or any of my farang friends.

Probably because you don't understand. 

[Naroge]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Probably because you don't understand. 

Let's see. Maybe I'll learn more as time goes.

[tingtongfarang]

I cant think of any reason to be offended when a slope calls me farang ????

[Neeranam]

There is indeed a prejudice of farang in Thailand. 

 

If you can't speak fluent Thai, it's impossible to understand the finer nuances of the culture. 

Ask your Thai spouse/partrner if Thais call farang 'mun'(it) and they will probably tell you 'no' just to shut you up. I've done  a lot of research in this area and trusted Thai friends tell me they do indeed use 'mun'. I've also heard it when they didn't think I heard or understood. 

 

 

[John Drake]

Codswallop

[toofarnorth]

4 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Codswallop

Isn't that Cornish for a weekend hobby ?

[JonnyF]

25 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

Be very careful who you choose to (jokingly) abuse over here.

They will have access to a gun.

I didn't abuse him. I simply showed him the same amount of respect that he had shown me. It's a simple rule I follow that serves me well.

[Walker88]

And let's ask why Asians might take exception to the term "<deleted>", when its etymology is 'worthy Oriental gentlemen'. That sounds benign, right? And isn't "Chink" just to Chinese what Farang is to Franks? (Bold because the term, oddly, was deleted, despite my just trying to make a point about intent of use.)

 

While many terms might have had a benign genesis, quite often the term morphs into an epithet. Farang is often used in a non-complimentary manner. So is gaijin in Japan, despite its origin. Of course some terms are epithets from the get go, such as gwai lo used in Cantonese (white devil). Once in an Armani shop in HK a service person yelled to a staffer, "Get over here and help the gwai lo" (translated to me by my HK friend, though I heard the gwai lo part).

 

Blacks and South Asians get worse terms tossed at them in SE Asia, and the intent is hardly benign. Most of us also know that "Darlie" toothpaste wasn't always named Darlie.

 

Racism is hardly a monopoly of Caucasians. When someone tosses a term intending it as an insult or epithet, however, it reflects on the speaker and is of usually no concern to the target, other than the target knowing he or she owes zero respect to the speaker.

[rott]

54 minutes ago, LivingNThailand said:

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, Farang means all Foreigners regardless of race, creed, color, religion, etc.   So why be offended?  It's a word for everyone.  I'd rather be called a Farang than a Foreigner or Alien.  But, as others have  mentioned above, it's the way it is said, the tone.  

Not quite, those with black skins are known as chocolate people. I doubt that citizens of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia etc are called farang. Generally it has referred to white people. 

[JimTripper]

I'm a man.

 

When you speak to me you speak to me as a man using my name. If you don't know my name you ask. If you don't want to ask my name then you address me as Mr. or Sir.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, LivingNThailand said:

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, Farang means all Foreigners regardless of race, creed, color, religion, etc.   So why be offended?  It's a word for everyone.  I'd rather be called a Farang than a Foreigner or Alien.  But, as others have  mentioned above, it's the way it is said, the tone.  

I am Thai but everyone calls me a farang, even when they know my nationality. Happened in the bank the other day.

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, JimTripper said:

I'm a man.

 

When you speak to me you speak to me as a man using my name. If you don't know my name you ask. If you don't want to ask my name then you address me as Mr. or Sir.

So you don't believe in the idiom, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans's do'?

 

 

 

[Neeranam]

42 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

When a non-Thai calls me 'farang', they are being stupid, as I speak English, and they usually speak English too.

Some groups of people use the derogatory word with each other. Listen to Dr Dre! 

[Whale]

I don't like it. Imagine if walking the streets of Newcastle I referred to anyone not of my race or of a specific race by a term that is non-inclusive. I would be considered anti-social by many. Hey you Caribbean, Hey you African, Hey you china man, hey you ting tong Thai, hey you white person.

 

Its not the word it there belief that you are not like me. Those days should be in the past. 

[Doctor Tom]

1 hour ago, LivingNThailand said:

From what I understand, and I may be wrong, Farang means all Foreigners regardless of race, creed, color, religion, etc.   So why be offended?  It's a word for everyone.  I'd rather be called a Farang than a Foreigner or Alien.  But, as others have  mentioned above, it's the way it is said, the tone.  

That is correct.  Some people want to see racism where none exists. My Thai family call me Farang Uncle, to differentiate me from the Thai Uncles. They would think it impolite to use my first name.  

[BangkokReady]

Did anyone read the full article?  The author has experienced racism and being categorised and treated as a homogenous "Asian person" in the West and is enjoying a little bit of revenge racism.

 

Is the word offensive?  Is it offensive to tell your friend you saw someone doing something weird and describe them as "an Asian guy"?  No.  Would it be offensive to approach someone in the West and shout "hey, Asian guy!" at them?  Yes.  Would it be offensive to refer to an Asian person in your friend group who you know well and know their name as "the Asian guy"?  Yes.

 

Farang also carries with it the negative qualities and hatred that some Thai people associate with foreigners.  Obviously not all Thais think this way about foreigners, but not all foreigners are evil sex criminals who deserve to be treated as less than human.  Not all Thais have the mindset of "I hate foreign people but I want their money, spend your money and go home", but some do and this is part of what the word farang represents.  If the N word carries with it the weight of racism, slavery, segregation, KKK, etc., then farang carries with it everything bad that Thai people attach to the name.

 

It's a term that might not be inherently racist or offensive, but, like with the term foreigner, it can be (and most often is) used in an offensive and derogatory way.

[Lacessit]

I simply don't worry about it, the terms gaijin ( Japanese ) or gweiloh ( Chinese ) are far less complimentary.

I'm usually addressed as Khun by the Thais that know me, if someone I don't know uses it I don't care.

[BangkokReady]

17 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I am Thai

Your biological mother and father are both ethnically Asian Thai natives?

[Neeranam]

18 minutes ago, Whale said:

I don't like it. Imagine if walking the streets of Newcastle I referred to anyone not of my race or of a specific race by a term that is non-inclusive. I would be considered anti-social by many. Hey you Caribbean, Hey you African, Hey you china man, hey you ting tong Thai, hey you white person.

 

Its not the word it there belief that you are not like me. Those days should be in the past. 

Thailand is a developing nation, which many farang forget. On the one hand, they come here because of it, yet criticize it. 

 

Generally, Thailand is 30/40 years behind the west. 

 

In my lifetime, the US didn't allow blacks to vote, and this was on prime time English TV 40 years ago. 

 

Farang is offensive but not as bad as the UK or US was. Cod is wrong here.

 

 

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Your biological mother and father are both ethnically Asian Thai natives?

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

[recom273]

It's not the word as such, it's the context, that you aren't worthy, it's the fact that it can be used by the locals as a negative word. The immigration officer, instead of using your name which is written in front of him, uses it to refer to someone who is present when discussing your application with his superior, yet he refers to my wife as Khun Noonit, this is just plain rude.

 

Although many will argue like the author that it's a word descended from history. The fact that K. Satrusayang and others need to write this tripe in a way to justify their fellow countrymen demonstrates.

 

There is a word to replace it, ต่างประเทศ or คนมาจากต่างประเทศ - this is how we were addressed when I worked at a school where the parents had an education and money, the headmistress reprimanded Thai teachers who referred to multi racial kids as "dek farang". Even the woman in my local builders merchants who attended university, doesnt use the F word.

 

Am I offended, not especially - because it can mean, a foreigner, when I hear Andrew Biggs use it to explain something using the word, it sounds normal, but it always seems to be used by some girl running to hide at the back of her shop because she doesn't have the capacity to understand you are talking to her in Thai, or the bank clerk talking with her manager when they are looking for a reason to deny you a service, for me its a demonstration of exclusion or that the user is of lower uneducated class. Perhaps, K. Cod belongs to this group.

[BangkokReady]

15 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

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

I doubt that you are Thai if you don't have Thai parents.

[Silencer]

I am not personally offended by the term, although tone and context does seem to make a difference in how I assess its use. However, I am rarely (I can't recall the last time) referred directly as a "farang", and never called that by name one on one. I have heard "many farang like this style" in a store when discussing home designs, which indirectly is calling me a farang. I'm Khun (name) to most people that know me and called no name by people that don't know me (eye contact and speak) or a polite "sir" by some. I see the term used most often when Thais are generically speaking of white foreigners and have heard myself referenced as such between two Thais (that don't know my name) talking between themselves, which does not offend me. To my face, hardly ever. Whether they call me "it" behind my back, I could care less. I can think of a lot of terms I would use, behind their back, of people I have met here, Thai and farang. 

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

just a label for a group of people.

That’s the problem. It’s a label. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

44 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

Isn't that Cornish for a weekend hobby ?

It's a British food delicacy. ????