2 hours ago, wil iam not said:

No, you have to get a piece of paper from a clinic................no test.

Oh well you know ,and your only 32 you said ,amazing !

I am impressed, and you live in Thailand driving cars at 86 ? No accidents ?

22 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Could I ask you kindly to have some respect to the OP and not put his post off track

Your a selfish man who barges into lifts before the people get out !

Start your own thread on your issue please , surely that's not too much to ask of you surely !!

What a load of nonsense, it was fair comment as the heading for this post mentioned falang, which in itself is not the norm for the spelling of farang.

15 hours ago, wil iam not said:

The cataracts are a clouding of the lens/es, so, obviously, the Dr must put in new ones.

Or give you a dog and white stick! 555

So obviously you need to see 'the right people' or specialist that's completing cataract removals all the time and when you get new lenses you don't need reading glasses, which a lot of new lenses patients need.

16 hours ago, scorecard said:

True. I'm 81. I have a Thai lifetime driving license for a car and for a motorcycle.

About 10 years back there was a 'campaign' to get all old cardoard with pasted photo licenses chaned to plastic.

I went to the LTO in Bkk, they did a 1 minute check to confirm I was in the database

LIFETIME DRIVING LICENE - I have these licenses for car and for motorcycle. At 78 years old I asked at the central LTO office about tests for older foreigners and maximum age. Response, from Snr. officer "can you still drive? Answer "yes every day" and tests : no direct response "your doing OK keep driving" and he walked away.

Yes Do you have accidents very often?

LIFETIME WORK PERMIT - This did exist decades ago and could be issued by various agencies, I saw the letter about 10 years back, the holder was a very very old British guy and he was very proud of his lifetime work permit. Now doesn't exist.

Wasn't Bernard was it?

Was incharge of the ship building yard when they built the frigates ++

I worked with him at Lam Chabang port.

If it was Bernard, send me a PM so I can say hello.

When I moved upcountry I lost contact.

10 hours ago, Artisi said:

What a load of nonsense, it was fair comment as the heading for this post mentioned falang, which in itself is not the norm for the spelling of farang.

It's sad that at your age you haven't kept up with modern times, I guess don't mix with the younger generation

You realise nowadays yes right now spelling is not important in schools as long as your message is understood and get your message across

It's the same as winning at a competition is no longer relevant to coming 1st anymore , everyone gets a prize,there's no first prize it's prejudice and de meaning

I know your old but try to keep up with the modern tymes ... And yes I spelt time with a "y" because this is modern times and there is no need to spell correctly in 2026

Falang balang satang farang who cares ,we know his meaning,,and as I'm planning to be young again I will leave you with ....good on you bro !

Be wary of glaucoma. I no long have much peripheral vision. Don't want to cream a motorcycle!

very impressed with the octagenarians here still driving. good for you and best of luck!

On 1/31/2026 at 11:06 AM, dddave said:

Thai is a language of classifiers, whether eggs, paper or people, Thais classify everything. "Farang" is really no more than a classifier in Thai eyes. The word: "farang's" etymology has long been disputed, whether it evolved from "Frank" or the word for papaya or several other possibilities, it is not seen by Thais as rude or judgmental. We've long seen such words as "Gringo", "Gwello", "Yankee" as disparaging and that is pretty accurate but "farang" is not in that same league.

"Farang" is not a classifier the classifier for farang is "khon"

The word for papaya (malakor) is nothing to do with the word "farang" you are confusing it with the word for Guava which is "farang" so it has not "evolved " from that either .

It may not generally thought of as a pejorative by most Thais , although it can be intended as such. It is certainly not considered a term of respect

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

It's sad that at your age you haven't kept up with modern times, I guess don't mix with the younger generation

You realise nowadays yes right now spelling is not important in schools as long as your message is understood and get your message across

It's the same as winning at a competition is no longer relevant to coming 1st anymore , everyone gets a prize,there's no first prize it's prejudice and de meaning

I know your old but try to keep up with the modern tymes ... And yes I spelt time with a "y" because this is modern times and there is no need to spell correctly in 2026

Falang balang satang farang who cares ,we know his meaning,,and as I'm planning to be young again I will leave you with ....good on you bro !

The Thais have another word for people just like you ,

2 hours ago, ronnie50 said:

very impressed with the octagenarians here still driving. good for you and best of luck!

I agree

16 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

The Thais have another word for people just like you ,

Oh look don't keep us in suspense....we love reading your intelligent comments

On 1/30/2026 at 1:24 PM, spidermike007 said:

Although this is slightly off topic isn't it time that we start referring to ourselves as foreigners? I don't get overly offended by the word farang, or falang, but I do think that it's a bit impolite, as it does mean total outsider which we're not. In many other cultures we would consider to be one of them, after 10, 20, or 30 years, and after contributing massively to the local economies.

A significant group of my friends much prefer the word foreigner.

I think it just sounds wrong when used as a descriptive by one of us, are those who do so trying to "reclaim it " or what lol?

It doesn't really bother me when a Thai uses the word , To be honest its very rare they use the word when talking to me or addressing me , generally its more commonly used when they are speaking about me , and normally (but not always) when they think i won't hear

13 hours ago, carlyai said:

Wasn't Bernard was it?

Was incharge of the ship building yard when they built the frigates ++

I worked with him at Lam Chabang port.

If it was Bernard, send me a PM so I can say hello.

When I moved upcountry I lost contact.

I would hazard a guess if Bernard was very very old 10 years ago that Bernard .....has ...how do I put it mildly ......left the room?

1 minute ago, georgegeorgia said:

I agree

Oh look don't keep us in suspense....we love reading your intelligent comments

"We"? You have no friends so who on earth is "we" ? Oh wait a minute, have you rented some company for the night?

6 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

I agree

Oh look don't keep us in suspense....we love reading your intelligent comments

I won't tell you what the word is , as you will start to notice it more when they say it , eventually you will be hearing it all the time , you will even be hearing it in your sleep, it will end up driving you crazy(er) I couldn't live with myself if I thought I was responsible,

On 1/30/2026 at 1:21 AM, carlyai said:

The biggest problem is renewing my overseas country licence

here in Quebec Canada, I had to redo all my written and driver's tests. No physical as I just turned 60. It sucked, and if I want my motorcycle licence I gotta do the same thing.

1 hour ago, Bday Prang said:

I won't tell you what the word is , as you will start to notice it more when they say it , eventually you will be hearing it all the time , you will even be hearing it in your sleep, it will end up driving you crazy(er) I couldn't live with myself if I thought I was responsible,

You did say you were in your late 70's ...

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

The Thais have another word for people just like you ,

51 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

You did say you were in your late 70's ...

You should quit while ahead, your hang up with people's age seems to be psychological problem manifesting in your little closed mind. Maybe WE should feel a little sorry for you.

1 hour ago, Artisi said:

You should quit while ahead, your hang up with people's age seems to be psychological problem manifesting in your little closed mind. Maybe WE should feel a little sorry for you.

Oh please can we have the decency to get back to topic please ,instead of talking about yourself!

4 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Oh please can we have the decency to get back to topic please ,instead of talking about yourself!

How about you have the decency to stop playing moderater by telling posters to get back on topic.

On 1/31/2026 at 8:09 AM, wil iam not said:

In UK you just have to say on the renewal form that you are medically fit and can see. No tests.

It's when the Examiner says 'Can you read the number plate on that car?' and you answer "Car, where?" 555

8 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

You did say you were in your late 70's ...

no i didn't and I have a long way to go before I reach my 70's Stop posting rubbish

In fact why are you even posting here at all if you can't even drive ?

6 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Oh please can we have the decency to get back to topic please ,instead of talking about yourself!

Pot & kettle!

On 1/30/2026 at 5:14 PM, KhunLA said:

I'm only 71. One guy, posted recently, 84 and still driving. I might need to tend to a cataract soon, and will find out end of this year I think, when renewing license. See how that depth perception test goes 🙄

I better apply to renew early, JIC

I had cataracts seen to 3 years ago. At 81 it was the best thing ever as far as I am concerned. Prescription glasses previously were a right pain, but I have 20/20 vision now. As to depth perception, don't worry, it's like having eyes of a ten year old.

On 1/31/2026 at 8:09 AM, wil iam not said:

In UK you just have to say on the renewal form that you are medically fit and can see. No tests.

Up to now, but it will change if barmy starmer has anything to do with it.

On 1/31/2026 at 11:18 AM, spidermike007 said:

Whether I consider it derogatory or not, I still have the option of choosing to use the word foreigner, which I feel is more dignified. Obviously this is a personal thing, and it probably means nothing to the vast majority of people.

You are missing the whole point. 'FARANG" translates to "FOREIGNER", so what is your problem?

12 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

I think it just sounds wrong when used as a descriptive by one of us, are those who do so trying to "reclaim it " or what lol?

It doesn't really bother me when a Thai uses the word , To be honest its very rare they use the word when talking to me or addressing me , generally its more commonly used when they are speaking about me , and normally (but not always) when they think i won't hear

Agreed. Obviously there's nothing we can do to change what they do, what they say, or what they think, but we certainly have control over what we say.

I much prefer foreigner and many of my friends feel the same way. Falangreminds me a bit of how many black men refer to each other using the n-word, it just seems a bit low, and lacking self respect?

From an essay by Matt Smith.

How do you feel about being referred to in this way? From my point of view, when I spend long periods in rural Thailand, I grow very weary of locals who see me every day refer to me as 'The Farang', even though they know my name. Worse still, they will often refer to me as such when talking to my partner as though I wasn't even there. To me, it is insulting and I am deeply offended by it in the long term. I feel it is no better in this case than being called n##ger, long nose, roundeyes, whitey, spick, polak, kraut etc etc.

My interest is to make some other observations; the first of these is that, when they completed a survey that asked them about the attitude of all the farangs in their experience towards this word that appears in one of their course books, my students overwhelmingly indicated that they (the farangs), were ‘mostly uncomfortable' with it.

So we have some evidence that by and large Caucasians don't like to be called farangs by Thai people. And, that despite their full knowledge of this, Thai people nonetheless continue to feel justified to do so. What the nature of that justification might be is a very complex issue, some of which will be touched upon here later; just this much, though, I am sure you will agree, is actually rather interesting.

‘How do you feel about being referred to in this way? From my point of view, when I spend long periods in rural Thailand, I grow very weary of locals who see me every day refer to me as 'The Farang', even though they know my name. Worse still, they will often refer to me as such when talking to my partner as though I wasn't even there. To me, it is insulting and I am deeply offended by it in the long term. I feel it is no better in this case than being called n##ger, long nose, roundeyes, whitey, spick, polak, kraut etc etc etc.

However, if you don't spend much time in a country I guess it can be humourous and fun to have a bunch of schoolkids shout 'Farang Farang' at you in the most innocent way possible and to be seen as a curiosity and in that case, what's the problem?... but when does it get too much for you, when your name effectively becomes 'Farang'?'

A more compromising perspective, perhaps, is to say that there are uses of the word where offence is neither intended or implied - I don't have an adequate grasp of the full breadth of Thai language discourse by which to offer an educated opinion here, although I must say that people I know who on all other counts treat me very well and sensitively do on occasion refer to me or mine as ‘farangs', which does support this view. But, that there are problems with the word, to the degree moreover that in this case it might become an item of lexicon that will be gradually phased out of use.

‘Even if you can speak no other words of Thai, most European and American visitors to Thailand will quickly become familiar with the Thai word farang (often mispronounced (even by Thais) as falang - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is the correct pronunciation.) It's basically used to describe caucasians, though African-Americans will sometimes also be known as farang or as farang dam ('black farang'). Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, so you can expect to hear farang eating farang 'jokes' if you happen to purchase any.

Other Asians are generally known by their country of origin (e.g. kon jeen - "Chinese people", kon yee-bpun - "Japanese people"), while people from the Indian Subcontinent are often known as kairk (which translates as "guest"). Kairk is used to describe even fluent Thai speakers of Indian descent who have been living in Thailand for generations and consider themselves as Thai - obviously being referred to as a 'guest' in these circumstances, while not particularly offensive, is not exactly complimentary either.

Some people get very offended at being called farang, but whether it's an insult should or not really depends on the context. A few Thais who are uncomfortable with using it will say kon dtahng bpra-tayt ('people from other countries') instead, but this is still pretty rare. Farang is basically a neutral word, but people who respect you (or who should respect you) will not use it - if you hear a work colleague, for example, refer to you as farang they probably mean it as an insult while a taxi driver or market vendor doing the same is unlikely to mean any offense at all.'

As well as ignoring people's national and cultural identities, in other words, or overlooking unique aspects of these identities that people often hold important, the word can also be seen to have a lot of potential here to bother people because it makes one other fatal mistake - it throws non-Americans, and even people like Russians, in with Americans, it throws the French and the Irish in the same basket as the English, and it throws Western European people in with Eastern European people, amongst other such faux pas - regardless of the justifications for ignoring people's objections here, my true objective just being to try and explain why Caucasians burr up at this word, I would guess that this is a generalisation (a perceived attempt at stereotyping, perhaps) that will never go down too well. It almost seems contrived, in fact, in this case, to promote discontent.

Thai people, to phrase it like this, are thinking (via notes I have taken over time in my journal of some genuine expressions of what kind of people Thais have said they understand farangs to be, as well as the affirmation of my students):

‘Rich tourist coming for a cheap holiday at our expense (because they are rich, and made us poor); Pattaya, Phuket, farang men and bar girls (prostitution, sex shows); old farang men getting a young Thai wife, or even molesting children, because they have the money; teachers with less qualifications than Thais, or even no degree at all, who are very unfairly getting much higher salaries than qualified Thai teachers, and who are able to live a better life in Thailand than they can back home, because they are farang; Christian missionaries pretending to help Thai people while they get more people who will pay money to their church; someone who has more money than sense, and who is too stupid to realise, let alone resent the fact, they are being cheated by special high prices in Thailand....'

Amongst a whole bunch of other altogether very uncomplimentary things - the point is, if this is some of the ‘cultural baggage' that hangs off the word in their minds, and one doesn't happen to belong to any of these categories, to be called a farang, especially if putting you in one of these categories seems to be their obvious intention, is highly offensive. I have particular experience of this - my wife is Korean, not Thai, and if you heard some of the lewd and rude things that complete strangers said to her because they wrongly assumed she was some bargirl (which fortunately she cannot understand), just because she was with a ‘farang'...well, quite obviously, if it reflects like this on my wife, there are definitely times I don't want to be called a farang.

The word farang by Matt Smith https://share.google/mZjUBWkCfpuMH12fi

Mods, please close this post, it has degenerated into discussions about farangs/falangs, nothing to do with the intended subject. Thankyou.

As per OP request

//CLOSED//