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.  🙂