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

[JonnyF]

There is no doubt that Thai people often expect more respect than they tend to give others. A couple of examples...

 

1. The use of farang, negro, Kaek etc. when only "Khon Thai" will do for them.

2. The uproar when a Thai flag with a Man City logo/slogan was waved at the City ground under Thaksin's ownership, meanwhile flipflops, underwear and various other tat is sold with other countries flags on them all over Thailand.

 

I don't think it's intentional, I just think that like leftists they are oblivious to their double standards. 

 

 

[fredwiggy]

Deleted

[Bvor]

2 hours ago, MangoKorat said:

I told her that I am a person and I have a name, how would she like it if I said "does the Thai want to eat". 

me thinks perhaps a more accurate analogy would be "does the Asian want to eat".

 

[fredwiggy]

7 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Because we are in Thailand Fred.

Read what I've said before, then let it really sink in. I've been here 7 years and have had no problems fitting in. The only problems I've had here are due to a disturbed ex wife's habits. I would leave here tomorrow if I could but it will take time. The people I've associated with think I'm okay, as much as they think any foreigner that is respectful is okay. All they need to know is how I act around them and how I treat my girlfriend. You can speak Thai, respect the culture,and spend all your money here, and there will still be many here that look at you as an outsider, because they were raised by prejudiced old school thinkers. I knew long before I came here how to respect the culture, and haven't had any problems with anyone else. I could fit in anywhere because I'm real and respect everyone who deserves it.

[Gecko123]

53 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

CAN and MAN and Stan annd Dan  are definitely not pronounced as the thai word for potato.

it is a different vowel. 
 

The mun in mun farang is the same vowel as in English you would say “fun” or “bun” or “run”.

 

This is a forum for learning.

If you are going to correct somebody make sure you are actually correct yourself.

 

Now go and ask your wife or any thai to say it to you.

 

It rhymes with fun, run, or bun, not man, Dan, Stan or CAN.

 

I have spent time now trying to help you, if you won’t listen then I can not help you any further.

 

You are completely incorrect. I recall explaining this very same thing to you about 6 months ago. Using 'mun' as a transliteration for 'มัน' is completely incorrect, and shows you are using an elementary (and incorrect) transliteration guide for pronunciation. If you still don't believe me, punch มันฝร่ง into google translate and then hit the pronunciation icon. You hear 'man', not 'mun.' As I told you 6 months ago, you need to switch over to the phonetic alphabet used in Mary Haas' Thai Student dictionary and Benjawan P. Becker's Beginning and Intermediate Thai books if you are seriously interested in advancing in the language, otherwise I can almost guarantee your efforts will putter out at best at the advanced beginner level. No advanced dictionaries or grammar guides use the transliteration guide you are currently using.

 

The reason I'm taking this tone with you is because I recall when you announced you were starting to study Thai (less than a year ago if I recall correctly) and I think it's a bit premature for you to be taking the tone you've taken in the above post. Get back to me when you've got 5 - 10 years under your belt, sonny boy.

[roo860]

16 minutes ago, HK MacPhooey said:

Here’s the first ‘holier than thou’ reply to this thread - whatever you think in your sanctimonious head you are and always will be just a ‘farang’ to them.

I see a topic headline 'How to Wai to a Thai' 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[BangkokReady]

18 minutes ago, Packer said:

25 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

It's fine.

 

Good, I'm glad that my example was educational for you. I'm happy to educated clueless newbies. 🙂

 

The example that you didn't give? I'm not sure I follow you.

 

Do you know or not? You not wanting to share the info, suggests that you don't know. 🤷‍♂️

[wensiensheng]

Of course it’s racist, because it’s use is premised on the race of the person it’s directed.

 

Non racist terms are not dependent on race. Farang is race dependent.

[DjSilver08]

To call someone "Farang" is just as racist that to call someone the N-word. This is how behind Thailand and it's culture are. Like going back 60 years in time.

[WDSmart]

"Thais use the word “farang” to describe or reference white-skinned foreigners. In Thai the word is spelt ฝรั่ง. It is a contraction of the Thai word for French/France, ‘ farangset ‘, which dates back to French Indochina in the 17th Century." Source: What Does 'Farang' Mean in Thai & Should I Be Offended? 

[Packer]

37 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

 

Add English lessons. 🙂 

 

5 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

I'm not sure I follow you.

 

I believe this. 🙂

[Gecko123]

2 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

Farang is race dependent.

 

No, it's not. It's etymological root may have evolved from the word farang set (French), but in current day colloquial usage it is a term for Westerners and non-Asian people regardless of their race.

[JimHuaHin]

Basically, most Thais are racist.

 

I do not know how many times I have been in a small Thai group (as the only farang), and heard myself being referred to as "farang", although most people in these groups knew my name.

 

Once, just to test the waters, I spoke about one member in a group (who I knew was at least 75% of Chinese ancestry) by referring to him as "jek" - everyone froze.  I just smiled.

 

Then you listen to some non-Central Thais talk about the peoples of/from Isan, Lanna or Patani (sic), or "worse" the Burmese, Khmer or Lao (and Vietnamese); but far worse, in my experience, has been reading about and listening to Thais talk about any "Asian" ethnic minority groups in Thailand, especially the "hill tribe" people.

 

With the ultra nationalist political parties and groups in Thailand, it is at times hard to imagine Thailand being in a regional group such as ASEAN.

 

As I started "most Thais"; I have many Thai friends over many decades who consider me as a friend, not a "farang".

 

 

 

[Felton Jarvis]

I agree. Thais are the only people on earth that claim the right to discriminate as a cultural item. 

[fredwiggy]

3 minutes ago, DjSilver08 said:

To call someone "Farang" is just as racist that to call someone the N-word. This is how behind Thailand and it's culture are. Like going back 60 years in time.

I don't see it as racist but ignorant and disrespectful. They're calling you "foreigner". If you aren't around, and they're talking to another Thai, that's the word used to describe someone born outside Thailand and not Asian. Example. "Today I saw a foreigner walking across the street naked". It's the same as "Today I saw a farang walking across the street naked", Both meaning a foreigner that wasn't Asian.

 

When you're walking down the street, and just going from one place to another, and someone points at you and says "farang", that's ignorance and disrespectful. We've been coming here long before the Vietnam era and aren't aliens from another planet. 

 

They teach their children the same thing, which is also ignorant. It's something that in that way needs to change. 

 

In the US, we don't point at Thais and say "Thai". We don't say anything unless we want to meet them, where we would say, "Hi, what's your name"? This isn't like calling blacks the N word. That's derogatory, although they do it to each other. Yes, the thinking is still behind here, because old school thinking is still around. I see young ones pointing at me saying "farang' all the time. Adults are the ones who need to stop this, although it's so ingrained in them it will take a long time.

[BangkokReady]

11 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

meanwhile flipflops, underwear and various other tat is sold with other countries flags on them all over Thailand.

 

I don't think it's intentional, I just think that like leftists they are oblivious to their double standards. 

 

I've seen Union Jack rugs!

 

There's not really much point in worrying too much about it. They have this "Thai Supremacy" beaten into them from a young age and they're simply not aware of what they're doing.

 

It is weird that so many foreingers have internalised it, though.

[barney42bb]

Thais often refer to Black people as "Chocolate".... Imagine using that in Woke Western Cultures.

 

Sticks n Stones Folks..... Moving On.

[Felton Jarvis]

To a Thai, farang are simply not human. That gives them the right to treat us in any way that benefits them.

[ravip]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

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

 

Here's a thought.  Quit being a snowflake. 

 

What happened to the good old days when we jokingly referred to each other as Pollocks, Guineas, WOPs, Rednecks and a hundred other familiar greetings that would trigger a lefty tantrum today?  Back then, we could take a joke.

 

Remember the Hilarious (British) TV series Mind your language?

[cowellandrew]

3 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

What is wrong with saying  Ni Hao?

I often use a japanese or korean greeting to my work colleagues. Everyone knows which Netflix  content I was watching the night before. 🫠   I sometimes use Italian or French when I say thank you. and I usually swear in French.  I don't get why anyone would have a  tantrum over this.  Maybe the issue is with the luk khrueng guy  and not the park visitors. Seems to me that he has  some heritage issues, playing the Thai pride card a bit too hard.

 

And  none of my Thai acquaintances or friends have ever  called me farang (when I am around). Lots of other names, sometimes semi insults, but never the farang guy. I have not heard any of thais married or living with  westerners call westerners farang either. This suggests to me that the use of the term farang may be more specific to certain  social groups.

 

 

 

 

Half jock is all you need to know!

Sense of humour short circuit,

Preventlent in all sweaty socks up north!

 

☻☻☻😂🙈🚀

[Hellfire]

2 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

You just referred to your wife as a “Thai” wife. 
 

Is that derogatory?

No. The word “Thai” is much more specific than the word “farang”. You could be right if I used something like my “asian” wife.

[Hellfire]

7 minutes ago, Felton Jarvis said:

To a Thai, farang are simply not human. That gives them the right to treat us in any way that benefits them.

Probably human but of a very different kind, borderline human.

[BangkokReady]

20 minutes ago, Packer said:

I believe this. 🙂

 

I believe you're wrong. Hence you cannot give an example.

[smew]

putin sheep comes to another country and shows off brave ideas. Go to moscow and put up new ideas to kremlin you little mouse…

[jiggi]

I have literally been saying this for almost two decades; this guy says it once and it’s a news story. Got to love todays netiznes. ๕๕๕๋

[BangkokReady]

6 minutes ago, Hellfire said:

No. The word “Thai” is much more specific than the word “farang”. You could be right if I used something like my “asian” wife.

 

It's not in any way the same. The guy's just trolling.

 

We don't know your wife's name, and her nationality is relevant to the story.

[Beerzy65]

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

So another East European fool aggravated a Thai by thinking he was clever and saying "Ni Hao", thereby making all foreigners look like idiots.

 

Deport all East Europeans from Thailand today and 80% of problems would go away.

 

But yes, farang, is obviously derogatory..

 

Notice the difference, a Russian says Ni Hao because he's a stupid fool, but the deragotary word farang is used with knowing intent.

In what way is Farang derogatory?

Definition

"In modern Thailand, the Royal Institute Dictionary 1999, the official dictionary of Thai words, defines the word as "a person of white race".^[9] The term is also blended into everyday terms meaning "of/from the white race"."

however if a Thai called me a Kwai I  would be offended.

[diveasia666]

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

So another East European fool aggravated a Thai by thinking he was clever and saying "Ni Hao", thereby making all foreigners look like idiots.

 

Deport all East Europeans from Thailand today and 80% of problems would go away.

 

But yes, farang, is obviously derogatory..

 

Notice the difference, a Russian says Ni Hao because he's a stupid fool, but the deragotary word farang is used with knowing intent.

Was an Italian who made the NiHao, btw...

[LeRoux]

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

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.

You make some good points, but it isn't only the Thais that use language as a shield for their views and sometimes malicious opinions.  Anywhere you have such a condition ~  "Hispanic in the US" / Russian in Germany, / Polish in England / Whatever, ~ ~  There will be people using Language to hide behind.

[Jonathan Swift]

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

So another East European fool aggravated a Thai by thinking he was clever and saying "Ni Hao", thereby making all foreigners look like idiots.

 

Deport all East Europeans from Thailand today and 80% of problems would go away.

 

But yes, farang, is obviously derogatory..

 

Notice the difference, a Russian says Ni Hao because he's a stupid fool, but the deragotary word farang is used with knowing intent.

So, are you one of the ones who cries "racism" every time a farang is pulled over fro a traffic ticket?