Opinion Russian Teacher to Thais: Drop ‘Farang’ if 'Ni Hao' Offends

[blaze master]

51 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

So, my wife goes into the village on market day. She comes home and tells me there was a farang in the market. [a rare sighting] - - what exactly should she have said ? 

 

If it was someone she knew, she would have told me, "I saw Khun Bob." 

 

If she was speaking English to you she could of said foreigner

 

[Cameroni]

If a Thai man says to a Thai girl "I have farang penis"...is he being rude or complimentary to farang?

 

I think the answer is clear.

 

 

[jvs]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

fat, round, overweight... 

But not the way Yagoda spelled it?

[Sir Dude]

The word "Farang" has negative connotations, even if many Thais don't think so or realise it... would it be alright if I said to a Thai in, say, Khon Kaen "Hello Isaan"? Haha. 

However the phrase "Farange Khi nok" is not just bad, it's outright offensive, as it means "foreigner bird sh*t". There are lost of ideas of where the word "farang" came from, from Thais hearing from Persians long ago with their word for Frankish people, to it refers to someone who is just of white race, to ideas about all sorts.

[Harrisfan]

47 minutes ago, roo860 said:

That's absolutely correct, I've just been to my local 7/11 for a cheese toastie, the two ladyboys that work in there were all over me, I kept thinking, please don't get an erection, and then one of them actually did!!😘

What were you doing behind the counter?

[MalcolmB]

2 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

calling us dirty farangs, called myself and my cycling companion dirty farangs as we rode past her house,

What word did she use for “dirty”?

[MalcolmB]

34 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

If she was speaking English to you she could of said foreigner

 

Then you would have had to ask what type of foreigner? Burmese, Chinese, Indian, or a farang?

[Kinok Farang]

9 hours ago, StandardIssue said:

You know if you act like a "farang" than you will be called one. I've had many Thai friends over the years and one of the things I've learned is that they really respect an expat who's made an attempt to honor Thai culture. For example.

How many expats or long stay foreigners take the time to:

1) Learn the language

2) Learn how to properly Wai when addressing a Thai person

3) learn to temper their voice when speaking to a Thai person or have a conflict with a Thai person.

4) Learn to not engage in Kissing or embracing a Thai woman as you would in the west when out in public.

 

the list goes on...

 

All my Thai friends and acquaintances call me by my first name or Khun when I am their senior. They Wai to me when seeing them.

 

Even when out shopping I make a very concerted effort to honor Thai culture when speaking with Thai citizens.

Well,aren't you the special one?

[Cameroni]

If a Thai woman asks "Do you have farang penis?" Is this rude...or complimentary?

 

Or just pure fear?

[blaze master]

12 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Then you would have had to ask what type of foreigner? Burmese, Chinese, Indian, or a farang?

 

Stop it. You know damn well Thai don't call chinese or Indians farang. 

 

 

[ikke1959]

4 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

No, he is not right! The first caucasians Thais came in contact with were the French. The Thai word for France is prathet farangse, which is were the word farang  comes from and it literally just means white person. If that’s offending to you then you’re the problem. It’s that simple. 
 

Also, you can’t really complain about being called farang for full ten years when you could have just told them to use your name instead. Have you done that? 

Yes the know/knew my name very well but when Thai people are talking with eachother in Thai they still call you the farang..

[ikke1959]

7 hours ago, watchcat said:

 

 

Yes you're right but what about aliens  as the Immigrations use?

It is the same... it just annoying how Thai people are addressing foreigners 

[Bredbury Blue]

Another storm in a teacup.

I must have been here too long as I'm always referring to other whities as farlang.

[MalcolmB]

13 minutes ago, blaze master said:

 

Stop it. You know damn well Thai don't call chinese or Indians farang. 

 

 

Exactly so the wife using “foreigner” is not as precise as “farang”

[blaze master]

4 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Exactly so the wife using “foreigner” is not as precise as “farang”

 

Go back and read original comment I replied to. The wife said farang not foreigner. 

[matta01]

In the past a US citizen was called a "Yank" now it is a "Trumper". I have no problem with farang.

[RMK54]

So, I did a little language research and the word Farang comes from the word "Frank" used to refer to "Europeans" vis-à-vis "Westerner"(stems from Persian and Greek).

Okay, so what! I am a Westerner, born and raised; therefore, I am a Farang.

I was in the Navy for a long time, called many things by my friends and those not my friends, it didn't stop me in anything I did in life. So, this guy should get over it and be thankful the Thai people have invited them to THEIR country and they haven't called him anything worse.

If he doesn't like it ... Go Home!

This Farang will not call anyone anything but friend and offer them a smile.

[NorthernRyland]

This is actually pretty interesting intel we got out of this. Saying "ni hao" to Thais may be the new n-word in Thailand. Ni hao Som Chai! Use it wisely.

[mlkik]

7 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Surprised nobody has brought up the Issan version of farang yet.

ผักสีดา Pak see da which also means guava

 

In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called mak sida (Thai: หมากสีดา), mak being a prefix for fruit names. Thus bak sida (Thai: บักสีดา), bak being a prefix when calling males, refers jokingly to a Westerner.

ผัก is the prefix for vegetable. I would have thought if you could actually speak Thai you would know this 555.

[Caldera]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Sai claims he confronted the tourist and demanded their expulsion from the Krabi park for the perceived slight.

 

Clearly he wasn't a suitable person for his park ranger job.

[geisha]

5 hours ago, LeRoux said:

If you greeted him with "Guten Tag" in your first few days on the job, it should be "Laughed Off".  If after six months you used "Guten Tag", and it wasn't an inside joke, a reprimand of some sort might be in order.

(Besides, Ni Hao was not said by an Employee, but a Tourist.  That is quite a difference.)

That was not my quote! It was from Cameroni further up.

[MalcolmB]

21 minutes ago, mlkik said:

In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called mak sida (Thai: หมากสีดา), mak being a prefix for fruit names. Thus bak sida (Thai: บักสีดา), bak being a prefix when calling males, refers jokingly to a Westerner.

ผัก is the prefix for vegetable. I would have thought if you could actually speak Thai you would know this 555.

Thanks for that.

i have only been learning Thai for a year and haven’t learned any Issan language.

I assumed it was pak as in vegetable.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[MalcolmB]

1 hour ago, blaze master said:

 

Go back and read original comment I replied to. The wife said farang not foreigner. 

That’s right she said “farang” so husband knew it was a whitey the wife saw.

If she said foreigner it could have been any race. 

[blaze master]

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

That’s right she said “farang” so husband knew it was a whitey the wife saw.

If she said foreigner it could have been any race. 

 

Ok so you want to continue to miss the point being made. Got it. 

[LeRoux]

14 minutes ago, geisha said:

That was not my quote! It was from Cameroni further up.

You are correct, I apologize.  That was the automatic system at Asean that Labelled it as such.

I can delete it if you wish.

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

If she was speaking English to you she could of said foreigner

 

she does not speak much English - I can't think of another word that would have been more clear for both of us - - there was no malice intended. 

[Patong2021]

2 hours ago, Cameroni said:

If a Thai man says to a Thai girl "I have farang penis"...is he being rude or complimentary to farang?

 

I think the answer is clear.

 

 

Is the answer that it is dirty and/or pox ridden?

[blaze master]

1 minute ago, 1FinickyOne said:

she does not speak much English - I can't think of another word that would have been more clear for both of us - - there was no malice intended. 

 

It would take you what 30 seconds or so to teach her the difference.

 

Thai dont use farang to describe any others but white people. Generally speaking.  As has been pointed out they don't call chinese farang. When the word is supposed to mean foreigner and a Chinese person is a foreigner. Well it doesn't really hold up. 

 

I'm not saying farang is being used with malice in all cases. However it is often unwillingly used as such. Taking into consideration that it's generally used for white people and not really to describe a foreigner. 

 

 

 

[impulse]

2 hours ago, Cameroni said:

If a Thai man says to a Thai girl "I have farang penis"...is he being rude or complimentary to farang?

 

I think the answer is clear.

 

Maybe not.  She could be wondering if he's carrying it around in a paper bag.  You know, to feed the ducks.

 

[NobbyClarke]

Send the Russian and the rest of them back to their own countries if they don't like it.

How many times are nicknames used worldwide? In the village everyone refers to me as Farang mainly because they can't remember or pronounce my name. I always refer to them using their nicknames.

Nothing will change, this is Thai culture and does it really matter to anyone?

It's the same old story, if you dislike Thailand, leave.