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

[Chris1950]

On 4/22/2025 at 3:23 AM, BangkokReady said:

 

Quite.  It isn't inherently racist, but if you called a Thai friend who you knew well and whose name you knew "Asian guy", it would instantly be offensive.

 

It's referring to someone you know as " the foreigner", or using it in a negative way, i.e. suggesting that foreigners are bad, that is clearly racist.

 

If someone said "I saw a farang in the town today, he was very tall", I don't think anyone would have an issue with it.  If your father in law, who you have known for years, says to your wife, "What is that farang doing today", it is obviously offensive.

Not so sure about this. I asked some Thai friends if Japanese, Chinese, President Obama or Denzil Washington were farangs. In each case the answer was "no".  It seemed to be exclusively used, at least by them, for white people; that is surely racist.

[FruitPudding]

I don't see the similarity here.

 

'Ni hao' means 'hello' in China, right?

 

'Farang' comes from the Thai word for Français (ฝรั่งเศส) and it is used to describe white people.

[murto]

1 minute ago, FruitPudding said:

I don't see the similarity here.

 

'Ni hao' means 'hello' in China, right?

 

'Farang' comes from the Thai word for Français (ฝรั่งเศส) and it is used to describe white people.

Correct! Too many people seem to thrive on believing they're being insulted. 

[ikke1959]

4 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

Yeah, so? Again, it does not have a negative connotation. It's all just in your head. I've been asking numerous Thais of all ages about that word and all of them, independently from each other, have said the same, even that 60 year old, extremely polite female teacher....

Hey you Thai... you don't have a name??? Or are you being offended if I only call you THai?? The Thai has comment on my post... That is normal??

[FruitPudding]

47 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Hey you Thai... you don't have a name??? Or are you being offended if I only call you THai?? The Thai has comment on my post... That is normal??

 

And since 'farang' is used only to describe white people,  it's probably more akin to saying "gook" or "chink" to describe East Asians or maybe "<deleted>" to describe all South Asians. Perhaps even the "n word" to describe black people in general. 

 

I think it really is a racial slur; it does not mean 'foreigner,' regardless of what a dictionary may say: Thais only use it for white people. There is another word for all foreigners (ชาวต่างชาติ)

 

That said, I am not actually offended by the word farang and I refer to myself as a farang, much like African Americans refer to themselves as....."you know what" (hilariously, I am afraid to actually say it, lol, how bizarre)

[Packer]

And then there are all the Thai born of Indian descent, that are called แขก (guest) for their entire life in their own homeland. Ohh, poor farangs crying at not being held aloft and carried through the streets on the local's shoulders for being so utterly superior. How horrid.  🙂

[rabang]

3 hours ago, Packer said:

And then there are all the Thai born of Indian descent, that are called แขก (guest) for their entire life in their own homeland. Ohh, poor farangs crying at not being held aloft and carried through the streets on the local's shoulders for being so utterly superior. How horrid.  🙂

It is still idiotic not to address people as individuals.

[FruitPudding]

3 minutes ago, rabang said:

It is still idiotic not to address people as individuals.

 

Thais are a collective society though.

[rabang]

1 minute ago, FruitPudding said:

 

Thais are a collective society though.

Yet they use names of each other instead of home town or province demonyms.

[Packer]

29 minutes ago, rabang said:

It is still idiotic not to address people as individuals.

 

Clueless farang alert. 🙂 

[FruitPudding]

35 minutes ago, rabang said:

Yet they use names of each other instead of home town or province demonyms.

 

Not really. Spend time in a village, you'll see!

 

They call random old guys in the village "father," old women are called "mother," middle-aged guys are called "uncle," and so on..........they are not actually related.

 

Even I was called uncle in the village sometimes. Farang too, of course. Also, teacher. And, father as well........but never by my name. Haha

 

Or they just call each other "pee" or "nong" by age/status. Or "buk" for naughty boys and pet dogs.

 

It's similar in Indonesia, too. They call each other brother and sister, father and mother etc. etc. depending on their age/status in the community. They even say it to strangers. 

 

It's actually about respect/duty to call someone by their status in community, rather than name.

 

It would be disrespectful to call your own parents by their first name, right? It's the same in a collective society. 

 

Not saying that farang is a respectful word though.

[Stargeezr]

Most of my Thai family call me Uncle, and the older ones call me Hawee, as the cannot say Harvey very well.

  They will tell theri friends that i am from Canada, if asked so i have not heard the term farang hardly at all.

[Will B Good]

39 minutes ago, Stargeezr said:

Most of my Thai family call me Uncle, and the older ones call me Hawee, as the cannot say Harvey very well.

  They will tell theri friends that i am from Canada, if asked so i have not heard the term farang hardly at all.

They will tell theri friends that i am from Canada......smart move, or they might think you're American.

[Luuk Chaai]

On 4/22/2025 at 10:05 AM, Dan O said:

Its the age old issue. If I say something that you don't like its racist if you do it it was misunderstood because their was no ill  intent. 

 

they might be  stricken

 

nothing wrong with farang .  it's part of the culture

[Dan O]

3 hours ago, Luuk Chaai said:

 

they might be  stricken

 

nothing wrong with farang .  it's part of the culture

it has nothing to do with culture and its not contained to only Thailand

[1FinickyOne]

On 4/22/2025 at 8:51 PM, blaze master said:

 

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. 

 

 

 

yes, she was describing a white person who was in the market - we both had the exact same understanding of the word - - I don't see anything negative or offensive about that... I don't know of another word that would have been better or more easily understood by us both... 

[1FinickyOne]

15 hours ago, Chris1950 said:

Not so sure about this. I asked some Thai friends if Japanese, Chinese, President Obama or Denzil Washington were farangs. In each case the answer was "no".  It seemed to be exclusively used, at least by them, for white people; that is surely racist.

It is not used in a racist manner - - though I guess by your definition, that doesn't matter - - it is used with no malice... 

 

"Black bird singing in the dead of night" was that Paul McCartney?