Something For The Life Of Me I Just Can't Understand Too

[Acquiesce]

BTW, the moment this thread is read by a mod it will be closed down.

It was an obvious attempt by the OP to stir up negative racial comments.

Shame on him.

[B Fuddled]

BTW, the moment this thread is read by a mod it will be closed down.

It was an obvious attempt by the OP to stir up negative racial comments.

Shame on him.

C'mon, leave him be. I rush to open everything he posts. Keep it up OP. Very amusing.

[Acquiesce]

BTW, the moment this thread is read by a mod it will be closed down.

It was an obvious attempt by the OP to stir up negative racial comments.

Shame on him.

C'mon, leave him be. I rush to open everything he posts. Keep it up OP. Very amusing.

[mr_hippo]

Are you living in Thailand? Are you of Western origin? Then you are a farang.

[canuckamuck]

Personally I would prefer to be called a westerner that would obviously be more polite. It will never happen though. Even my wife calls me a farang, and I myself find the word useful in conversation because it is fairly specific.The word itself is usually inert.

As far as farang being derogatory, well you can make it derogatory by how you use it you can also make the words Englishman, American, or Spaniard derogatory if you use them in a negative sense. You can’t keep people from slagging you off, it’s just gonna happen. Life is like that eh?

[asiaworld]

Personally I would prefer to be called a westerner that would obviously be more polite. It will never happen though. Even my wife calls me a farang, and I myself find the word useful in conversation because it is fairly specific.The word itself is usually inert.

Well if your wife calls you THAT, it may only mean few things> you do not speak/understand thai properly,haven't lived here long enough, do not communicate much tith other thais, and you may have made a wrong choice of a wife

[Naam]

There's nothing really offensive about the word farang. Ever been with a group of Thais when they see an elephant ? They all start saying "chang, chang, chang". The elephant doesn''t get offended.

a good one!

[Boo]

for me it depends on who & in what context. If a stranger was trying to describe me to another stranger they might use "that tall farang women with the big boobs & blonde hair" which would be correct, they don't know me & they don't know my nationality so farang is the most obvious word to use. But if someone who knew me & my name was saying "the farang" instead of using my name then I would be pissed.

My husband will correct (quite bluntly) people who refer to me as "farang" in his presence instead of "your wife" or by using my name. That I find is 100% rude, they know me, know my name or know our relationship but still chose to call me by a generic term. I wonder how they would like it if I talked to their friend or family and called them "the/that thai" whilst pointing at them to clarify who I meant??? Probably be offended too.

[WaiWai]

Inhabitants of the Middle/Central Kingdom of the known universe (China) refer to foreigners as "wai guo ren" (outsider people). There are other more colourful terms, too, of course & "meemiathai" must know the Cantonese versions. (BTW, Thai surely has some of these - what are they ?)

"Farang" has similar connotations of the sameness of all non-Thais/Asians and their outsider status. It's certainly not a very inclusive or welcoming term, and as others have said, is a bit de-humanizing in situations where the speaker knows your name. I am not sure that the use is generally derogatory, but it's certainly insensitive sometimes.

We are told that the Thais are constantly attentive to politeness and "face", both personal and communal. I am not sure if all those warnings set up unrealistic expectations, or Thailand is changing rather rapidly or what, but for such supposedly sensitive folk, they sure can be astoundingly insensitive in our terms, on occasion.

To ward off the posters who may say I am associating with the wrong type of Thai, these are "educated"people I am thinking of. I usually wonder if they are simply making rather disastrous expeditions into "directness" & display of supposed familiarity with the foreign culture; for example, loud use of "fxxK" ! and "shXt" in rather inappropriate situations.

[roietjimmy]

As a very funny guy once said in a comedy bit called The Seven Words You Can't Say On TV. "no such thing as bad words, only bad intentions"

[onzestan]

As a very funny guy once said in a comedy bit called The Seven Words You Can't Say On TV. "no such thing as bad words, only bad intentions"

Right!!!!!!!!

onzestan

[JetsetBkk]

Why do westerners insist on saying the word "farang" is derogatory even after living long time in Thailand?

I don't

[meemiathai]

for me it depends on who & in what context. If a stranger was trying to describe me to another stranger they might use "that tall farang women with the big boobs & blonde hair" which would be correct, they don't know me & they don't know my nationality so farang is the most obvious word to use. But if someone who knew me & my name was saying "the farang" instead of using my name then I would be pissed.

My husband will correct (quite bluntly) people who refer to me as "farang" in his presence instead of "your wife" or by using my name. That I find is 100% rude, they know me, know my name or know our relationship but still chose to call me by a generic term. I wonder how they would like it if I talked to their friend or family and called them "the/that thai" whilst pointing at them to clarify who I meant??? Probably be offended too.

I would like to point out, where my wife works she is called "nong dam"(dark sister), to call someone "dam" could be offensive if your intentions are to offend people, but in this case everyone understands it is just meant something "narak", it actually means they are close enough to call each other nicknames. To refer to someone as farang even when they all know each other well is simply like giving someone a nickname. And when one is the only westerner around farang automatically becomes ones nickname. And also out of convenience, you are the only westerner here and everyone understands right away that farang means you.

I am guessing that your husbands response was to protect your feelings as he knows you get offended. Do you mind asking his opinion on this and telling us?

Edited September 18, 2007 by meemiathai

[meemiathai]

Why do westerners insist on saying the word "farang" is derogatory even after living long time in Thailand?

I don't

farang! farang! farang!

[meemiathai]

As a very funny guy once said in a comedy bit called The Seven Words You Can't Say On TV. "no such thing as bad words, only bad intentions"

EXACTLY

I wonder these same people who are offended by the word farang will on the contrary get ego-boosted when those BGs all start calling hansum men hansum men along soi cowboy. So people think they are being polite to you then?

[meemiathai]

It's just like if you go to the UK, many people will refer to anyone oriental looking as 'Chinks' or 'Spring Links'.

Ie. Are you going to the spring links after the pub. (Are you going to the chinese takeaway after the pub) or, Are you going for a chinkys after the pub. Same meaning as the first.

Nobody means any offence by it but it could be costrued as being insulting.

Personaly i like the term 'Chinaman' but apparently thats not PC either.

There are differences between cultures. Like you can't say in the UK it is offensive to point your foot at someone because it is the same in thailand.

It is about what the majority of that particular country think is offensive or not. My humble opinion is that when coming into contact with other cultures we should have more room for them.

Anyway I'm finding it difficult to express in English.

[seonai]

Personally I'd rather be called 'farang' than 'YOU'... that irritates me even though I can be logical about it.

MeeMee your wife's nick name at work would transliterate as 'Nong Dum' - many Thai people I know are called Dum and Ooan (Black and Fat) and it doesn't bother them much

[meemiathai]

Inhabitants of the Middle/Central Kingdom of the known universe (China) refer to foreigners as "wai guo ren" (outsider people).

A little clarification.

wai means outside

guo means country

ren means people

outside country means foreign country in chinese.

I guess it makes a little difference with outsider people and I am not sure if there are people who are going to find it offensive again. Do people get offended when calling their names but without the Mr or Mrs?

[qualtrough]

...And Wittiyu (or however it's spelled) road in Bangkok, is a mis-pronounciation of the English word Radio (Radio= Wittyu) as it sounded to Thais in the 1930's. (The overseas postal radio telecommunications service was once on that road.)

Witayu is not anything like how a Thai would mispronounce 'radio'. Like many technical words in Thai its origin is Sanskrit.

[canuckamuck]

"Personally I would prefer to be called a westerner that would obviously be more polite. It will never happen though. Even my wife calls me a farang, and I myself find the word useful in conversation because it is fairly specific.The word itself is usually inert."

Well if your wife calls you THAT, it may only mean few things> you do not speak/understand thai properly,haven't lived here long enough, do not communicate much tith other thais, and you may have made a wrong choice of a wife

Actually you are spectacularly wrong, but that should be expectated when making such broad assumptions about someone you know nothing about. My wife says it as often as I do, just a habit because we are comfortable with each other. It is not like she says "hey you farang" It's more like "you go eat your farang food, I want to have crispy frogs tonight".

[Pepe']

Why do westerners insist on saying the word "farang" is derogatory even after living long time in Thailand?

Is it because in the west people hate each other so much that they like to think of everything being offensive as long as it is not a praise?

Do they have a learning disability?

I find westerners take offense easily, don't they?

farang is a word for westerners used by all thai's ,originally comes from the word for french ,the first westerners to come to thailand ,personally i use it when speaking to thai;s ,but westerners or tourist when speaking to non thai's ,to a thai most westerners look the same ,and dont understand the many different accents spoken by different countries ,they dont mean any offence when they call you a farang...............

---------------

It definitely depends on the way it's said.

PS If you think farangs are more than walking wallets to "most" Thais, well dream on...

[asiaworld]

Well one thing that amazed me is my GF, who's originally from Isarn, but speaks enough english, she could probably post here told me , 'YOU' ( as in seonai wrote above ) means " meng" in thai ! Which i knew, those of you watching & listening thai movies would also ! And she only uses farang as derogatory.. You'll know something's wrong if that word is out .. thats my 2 satang on it . Btw she doesn't look very thai , so growing up here waught her a thing or 2 about bigotry !

[canuckamuck]

Well one thing that amazed me is my GF, who's originally from Isarn, but speaks enough english, she could probably post here told me , 'YOU' ( as in seonai wrote above ) means " meng" in thai ! Which i knew, those of you watching & listening thai movies would also ! And she only uses farang as derogatory.. You'll know something's wrong if that word is out .. thats my 2 satang on it . Btw she doesn't look very thai , so growing up here waught her a thing or 2 about bigotry !

Let me try to decipher your post. Your GF explained to you in english the translation of the word you, which you already knew had something to do with the word meng ( I assume the transliteration of the word for prostitute or smells bad). Or did she explain the word meng which I guess means the same as another word in Thai that sounds like You, which you already knew. You are probably right that your GF has enough English to post here.

Edited September 18, 2007 by canuckamuck

[meadish_sweetball]

Well one thing that amazed me is my GF, who's originally from Isarn, but speaks enough english, she could probably post here told me , 'YOU' ( as in seonai wrote above ) means " meng" in thai ! Which i knew, those of you watching & listening thai movies would also ! And she only uses farang as derogatory.. You'll know something's wrong if that word is out .. thats my 2 satang on it . Btw she doesn't look very thai , so growing up here waught her a thing or 2 about bigotry !

There are at least 10 different pronouns in Thai that could be translated as 'you' in the context of a conversation. Thais address each other according to kinship, status, intimacy etc.

Your girlfriend was probably talking about the very familiar word I'd transcribe as 'meung' which is rude when used to strangers, but perfectly fine with people that are very close to you, like your best friends since childhood.

There is no way a Thai who was looking for a stranger's attention would yell out 'mueng' unless he was picking a fight.

Taxi drivers and touts, etc. would, and do, use the polite word 'khun' in a Thai-to-Thai context. They just aren't quite aware of what YOU YOU YOU sounds like to a Western ear, the same way as nobody will react to curses in a language they don't speak - without the social context they are just sounds.

[asiaworld]

Well one thing that amazed me is my GF, who's originally from Isarn, but speaks enough english, she could probably post here told me , 'YOU' ( as in seonai wrote above ) means " meng" in thai ! Which i knew, those of you watching & listening thai movies would also ! And she only uses farang as derogatory.. You'll know something's wrong if that word is out .. thats my 2 satang on it . Btw she doesn't look very thai , so growing up here waught her a thing or 2 about bigotry !

Let me try to decipher your post. Your GF explained to you in english the translation of the word you, which you already knew had something to do with the word meng ( I assume the transliteration of the word for prostitute or smells bad). Or did she explain the word meng which I guess means the same as another word in Thai that sounds like You, which you already knew. You are probably right that your GF has enough English to post here.

Oy oy oy excruciating knowledge, maybe my english is so bad than .. Anyways all those mentioned words are derogatory ,

and if you don't give sh*t about it this is my last post in this topic .. We can pepper our speach with insults , but the common sence must prevail , as for how & on whom you use it . it's like on this forum, there's relative freedom of speech. If you go overboard , you get sensored. If you feel ok with being called whatever you want by your relatives, that should be your problem.. On the other hand it may be an innocent nickname in your case, but the word is basically on the same level as if we use nigger in english , or some other racial insult ! <rappers use it & don't feel bad abt. it, but try to call'em that in person!>

[Pepe']

Well one thing that amazed me is my GF, who's originally from Isarn, but speaks enough english, she could probably post here told me , 'YOU' ( as in seonai wrote above ) means " meng" in thai ! Which i knew, those of you watching & listening thai movies would also ! And she only uses farang as derogatory.. You'll know something's wrong if that word is out .. thats my 2 satang on it . Btw she doesn't look very thai , so growing up here waught her a thing or 2 about bigotry !

------------------------

Exactly.

Even though this topic has been gone over add nauseum over the years it's good to repeat I guess because some people refuse to believe it.

[gbt71fa]

Just look at the response and see why I started this thread!

Unbelievable stupidity!

Keep them going and see how stupid they can be!

Nigger? 555555555 Do you know where thailand is?

In the housing area where I lived one of the old grandmas used to make her grandchildren obey her by telling them that me, farang, would cut their throats and eat them in their sleep if they did not do as she said. This was the second instance: the first being in another town that "I ,farang, would get them and hurt them if they did not go home right now and listen to their mother". This was all done right in front of me and then explained to me by my wife's family. You're right, nothing there at all...

[Alf Witt]

AMAZING THAILAND

A German boards a plane in Europe and he is a Kraut which is a vegetable.

When he disembarks in Thailand he is a farang which is a fruit.

What is he during the flight? Some sort of hybrid?

Answers on a postcard please to the Royal Horticultural Society.

[UdonRoy]

If falang was offensive would Thai ladies who are married to western gentlemen refer to themselves when talking to friends as "Meer Falang"?

I don't think so!

We all are aware of the Thai thing with losing face and that would be like calling herself "the wife of white trash" if you believe it to be offensive and that is never gonna happen.

I hear the term dozens of times every day and also use it myself when talking to other "Falang"

It is just part of every day Thai dialect.

Like it or lump it!

[longway]

Just look at the response and see why I started this thread!

Unbelievable stupidity!

Keep them going and see how stupid they can be!

Nigger? 555555555 Do you know where thailand is?

In the housing area where I lived one of the old grandmas used to make her grandchildren obey her by telling them that me, farang, would cut their throats and eat them in their sleep if they did not do as she said. This was the second instance: the first being in another town that "I ,farang, would get them and hurt them if they did not go home right now and listen to their mother". This was all done right in front of me and then explained to me by my wife's family. You're right, nothing there at all...

and to a gentle sensitive soul like u as well tsk tsk tsk