"look, Look At The Falang"

[barky]

This is another thread on basically the same topic. In the situation the OP mentioned. The Thais were being incensitive and careless and rude, but they just don't care as this is Thailand, and as a westener you have just got to cop this crap sweet. In this type of situation it's downright racist too, but that's of no consequence either to the Thais.

One day maybe when a lot of the incensitive Thais grow up and mature and get with the 21st century this kind of thing may not happen.

Edited August 27, 2008 by barky

[Maigo6]

Never bothers me at all, in fact even being noticed should be a bonus for many people, in your own country you're just another face in the crowd, here you can be a minor celebrity just cos you're a Farang.

Try smiling and having a joke with the Thai people and the Thai kid, instead of feeling persecuted cos the colour of your skin, many Thai people would love to have white skin.

I very much doubt they were being disrespectful, if you where Black do you think they would have said, " Oh, look at the black man " ? I don't think so.

Too many Farangs feel they are victims in Thailand, it's the " they're all out to get me " syndrome, you have to accept that you're part of a minority in Thailand, and that you have the paranoia that goes with it.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Maigo6

[thaihome]

I don't mind it so much when I am up country, especially as I am the only white man in the area and some of the folks there have only seen whitey on TV. But there isn't much excuse in Bangkok.

The majority of Thais in Bangkok do not live or work in an area frequented by Westerners, nor are there a lot on Thai TV (except for the dubbed Hollywood movies). There is a very good chance the OP was the first (or nearly the first) westerner she had seen in person.

TH

[paul700]

Yesterday, I went to Chesters with my wife, and a young Thai couple came in to the restaraunt carrying their young girl. The girl looked to be about 2 years old. The child had a pair of glasses on that were the thickest I have ever seen in my life. The child had to have been essentially blind.

So the parents of the child see me, and began with the usual chant to their kid.... " Look, Look at the Falang."

I thought to myself.... I wish my son was here with me now, so I could say to him.... "Look, Look at the Blind kid."

I wonder how that would have gone over?

Being a felang in Thailand, I am quite used to this situation. I'm sure most Thais do not mean to be rude.....to them I think it is a novelty. Please don't be too serious about this type of thing. Certainly for a small child it must be very strange seeing a felang. Take a tip from me, just smile and say hello. The majority of Thais will think more of you that way, I'm sure.

[Dave the Dude]

I sometimes like to generalize too, when called a ferang, I (jokingly) say back " Look! An Asian".

Thais love that little joke!

Dave

[jackr]

... or, Hi, khon Lao! also works well

[roygsd]

Yesterday, I went to Chesters with my wife, and a young Thai couple came in to the restaraunt carrying their young girl. The girl looked to be about 2 years old. The child had a pair of glasses on that were the thickest I have ever seen in my life. The child had to have been essentially blind.

So the parents of the child see me, and began with the usual chant to their kid.... " Look, Look at the Falang."

I thought to myself.... I wish my son was here with me now, so I could say to him.... "Look, Look at the Blind kid."

I wonder how that would have gone over?

I wonder at your lack of intelegence..........

roy gsd

[Sir Burr]

When they say "look at the farang" to me, I look behind me, then ask them "where" in Thai.

Gets them laughing, and/or, embarrassed

[mr_hippo]

If anyone is upset by the word 'farang', please report to your nearest hospital where you will be fitted with a new spine and a new pair of balls, free of charge (Balls are optional for females)!

[GuestHouse]

So its OK for one person to be an exhibit, but not another?!

^ Primary school lesson in morals and ethics: If one person commits an unethical act, you are not then justified in committing a second unethical act against the first individual.

In other words, it's a stupid question.

How about some grown up thinking.

Consider the absurdity that it is acceptable to make one person an exhibit, but not the another.

An observation on absurdity, not a justification for two wrongs....

[Jingthing]

I just had a thought.

Can we learn from the gay movement and play with the words here in Thailand?

By this I mean, gays have taken a previously considered bad word QUEER and turned it around into a positive affirming word by owning it and using it openly about themselves.

Farang isn't quite that word for us. Is there a MORE RUDE word that Thais know that also means farangs?

If so, what is it?

Could we take that MORE RUDE word and start pushing it, using it everywhere to describe ourselves, correcting Thais that no we are not farang, we are the RUDE WORD, and just have lots of fun with the embarrassment and absurdity of it all. Might it be a kick in the pants to Thai society that maybe they are being ignorant with their overuse of the word farang?

Just a thought.

Edited August 27, 2008 by Jingthing

[HS Mauberley]

Consider the absurdity that it is acceptable to make one person an exhibit, but not the another.

An observation on absurdity, not a justification for two wrongs....

What? You seem to have misunderstood the point of the kindergarten refrain "two wrongs don't make a right". There is nothing interesting or notable about your 'observation' and there is no absurdity in pointing out that it is immoral to use a blind 2-year old to make a facile retort to a (possibly) mildly offensive remark.

[GuestHouse]

Consider the absurdity that it is acceptable to make one person an exhibit, but not the another.

An observation on absurdity, not a justification for two wrongs....

What? You seem to have misunderstood the point of the kindergarten refrain "two wrongs don't make a right". There is nothing interesting or notable about your 'observation' and there is no absurdity in pointing out that it is immoral to use a blind 2-year old to make a facile retort to a (possibly) mildly offensive remark.

Let me know when you graduate your Primary School and we'll discuss this further.

[HS Mauberley]

Consider the absurdity that it is acceptable to make one person an exhibit, but not the another.

An observation on absurdity, not a justification for two wrongs....

What? You seem to have misunderstood the point of the kindergarten refrain "two wrongs don't make a right". There is nothing interesting or notable about your 'observation' and there is no absurdity in pointing out that it is immoral to use a blind 2-year old to make a facile retort to a (possibly) mildly offensive remark.

Let me know when you graduate your Primary School and we'll discuss this further.

You know the danger in trying to be clever is that you'll inevitably trip over your own laces. 'From your primary school' dear boy, 'from'.

Still, let's not let that stand between us - please elaborate on the 'absurdity' of its being immoral to ridicule a blind 2-year old. I'm all ears. Or possibly, in this case, eyes.

[sanchez]

My standard reply is "My my, what good eyes you have" or "Have you never seen a farang before?" and then piss myself laughing at the reaction.

Seriously, you can't let that "farang, farang" bother you or you'll end up in the loony bin within months of setting foot on Thai soil.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Agreed!

Excellent advice fm Soundman... don't let small things like this get to you, after all, Thailand has so many more ways to "do-your-head-in", TiT... it's not a biggie unless you make it one, in which case go buy a case of valium cos you will need it!

[t.s]

Not the most educated post i have ever seen,but you havent been banned so think of yourself as very lucky.

please explain why he should be happy to avoid a banning? or is it simply because he said something you didn't like?

good luck with the campaingn to become a mod. were you al hall monitor in a previous life?

[gymshark]

Not the most educated post i have ever seen,but you havent been banned so think of yourself as very lucky.

please explain why he should be happy to avoid a banning? or is it simply because he said something you didn't like?

good luck with the campaingn to become a mod. were you al hall monitor in a previous life?

Probably tried and failed....

[GuestHouse]

Still, let's not let that stand between us - please elaborate on the 'absurdity' of its being immoral to ridicule a blind 2-year old. I'm all ears. Or possibly, in this case, eyes.

The absurdity is that the objection is made on the basis of a value judgement - It is OK to make a person an exhibit on the basis of their race, but not on the basis of their disability. If there is a moral rule (and it is you that says there is) Then the moral rule must apply equally - if it does not it is absurd.

But you sympathize with a blind child and that clouds your judgement to the point you leap into self righteous indignation over what the OP says he might have said in the situation he discusses, but actually never said – A NON EVENT. (AKA Something that did not happen!)

To remind you, the term I used was and remains 'exhibit' you yourself have stepped this up to ridicule.

And while you are all ears, I take it that you are in truth reading this.

[t.s]

Did anybody actually notice that the OP did not make the remark, but rather thought it and later posted it here?

has nobody here ever before had an inappropriate, rude, nasty thought in reaction to a situation but not voiced it and savoured it in hindsight?

i thought not, because you are all creatures of a higher moral fibre than us mere petty humans.

i suggest you save your ire for sleights that have actually been committed and congratulate the op for turning an innocuous situation that never occurred into an oportunity for you all to make moralistic asses of yourselves.

TV -- last bastion of the indignantly moral majority. now lets go burn some bigots at risk of setting our own asses aflame.

Edited August 27, 2008 by t.s

[poshthai]

TS,

DOES TAT MEAN TRANS SEXUAL.

UP TO ME

[NovaBlue05]

Enjoy your celebrity

[Tod Daniels]

I don't know what. .. ... (sorry, edited out the bullsh1t)

WOW! in 56 posts you're the new resident cunning linguist on all things thai.

'neion2000'; what an insightful yet one sided moronic diatribe about how YOU happen to see the word ฝรั่ง, evidently while wearing your spiffy color coordinated shirt, matching bracelet as well as your rose colored glasses.

Sorry to burst your bubble; but ฝรั่ง (sorry no karaoke thai) can be either a non-judgmental comment denoting a foreigner, or it can be used with a negative connotation. It is decided by the CONTEXT (a big word for you I know, but try to keep up).

To the O/P:

Upcountry where foreigners are scare as hen's teeth I take it with a grain of salt, but in metropolitan Bangkok, especially anywhere there are likely to be tourists; I take it as either plain ignorance or offensive depending on what is said either before or after what I call "the F word".

In thai I once asked a person who called me ฝรั่ง if they liked me to call them a small, dark skinned asian or if they preferred to be called a thai. It made the point, and we chatted a good while.

Although this is off topic; I have a t-shirt I made up which quotes the tag line from the 1999 movie titled The Sixth Sense. Instead of "I see dead people" which is the actual tag line, my shirt says, "I see thai people". Unfortunately it's such an obscure reference that it takes an explanation for people to get the meaning, so the shirt loses points in that regard.

As far as ฝรั่ง goes; it's the context in which it is used that denotes the real meaning of this word.

Edited August 27, 2008 by tod-daniels

[Mattchu9999]

^ Primary school lesson in morals and ethics: If one person commits an unethical act, you are not then justified in committing a second unethical act against the first individual.

In other words, it's a stupid question.

Which is exactly why follow those morals makes you a chicken sh*t.

Sorry but if you wronged "turning the other cheek" is a sheepls way of exposing the other cheek of a smacking.

If you've been wronged, your dam_n right you have every right to do what you fell is warranted to avange yourself.

Its this namby pamby whiney cry baby stuff being tought in schools that only serves to promote the whimpification of societies sheeple.

[HS Mauberley]

The absurdity is that the objection is made on the basis of a value judgement - It is OK to make a person an exhibit on the basis of their race, but not on the basis of their disability. If there is a moral rule (and it is you that says there is) Then the moral rule must apply equally - if it does not it is absurd.

There is no such necessity. It's quite clear that we can, for example, agree that a convicted criminal might be made an exhibit of but it doesn't then follow that anyone can then be made an exhibit of; these types of actions, and their moral justification, are hedged around with individual justifications. This is a general feature of applied ethics. The child is clearly an innocent party in this so whether or not the first case was right or wrong is irrelevant to the second - this requires its own justification and the fact that her parents may or may not have acted immorally (the only justification which seems to have been offered) is wildly insufficient to justify ridiculing her (and this is clearly the intent of the OP, otherwise why mention her blindness?).

But you sympathize with a blind child and that clouds your judgement to the point you leap into self righteous indignation over what the OP says he might have said in the situation he discusses, but actually never said – A NON EVENT. (AKA Something that did not happen!)

The OP was speculating on a course of action. There is nothing wrong with passing judgement on possible courses of action and, in fact, to wait until an event occurs before deciding whether or not it is immoral seems rather pointless.

[HS Mauberley]

^ Primary school lesson in morals and ethics: If one person commits an unethical act, you are not then justified in committing a second unethical act against the first individual.

In other words, it's a stupid question.

Which is exactly why follow those morals makes you a chicken sh*t.

Sorry but if you wronged "turning the other cheek" is a sheepls way of exposing the other cheek of a smacking.

If you've been wronged, your dam_n right you have every right to do what you fell is warranted to avange yourself.

Its this namby pamby whiney cry baby stuff being tought in schools that only serves to promote the whimpification of societies sheeple.

<deleted> me! Which rock have you been living under? Still perhaps you have a point. Instead of thinking about namby pamby stuff like how to lead a good life, schools should concentrate on core subjects, such as how to think and how to write. I can clearly see that you've been failed miserably by the educational system in this regard.

[Mattchu9999]

Although this is off topic; I have a t-shirt I made up which quotes the tag line from the 1999 movie titled The Sixth Sense. Instead of "I see dead people" which is the actual tag line, my shirt says, "I see thai people". Unfortunately it's such an obscure reference that it takes an explanation for people to get the meaning, so the shirt loses points in that regard.

As far as ฝรั่ง goes; it's the context in which it is used that denotes the real meaning of this word.

Thats funny. If I wore a shirt with Falang (in thai and english of course) in huge block letters on the front and back and walked down the street in BKK would it serve to bring attention to anything....or just be"lost in translation"??

[RusticCharm]

Best thing to do: smiling

Christ! Give me a break! Let's all stand around grinning like a bunch of retards. 

I don't know what your problem is  ...blah blah blah

If your dumb ass ....blah blah blah.. You're IGNORANT!!...blah blah blah...

..... LOSER!!...unless you're a LOSER!!

...blah de fuc_king blah....

Another internet tough guy. 

[Mattchu9999]

Best thing to do: smiling

Christ! Give me a break! Let's all stand around grinning like a bunch of retards.

I don't know what your problem is ...blah blah blah

If your dumb ass ....blah blah blah.. You're IGNORANT!!...blah blah blah...

..... LOSER!!...unless you're a LOSER!!

...blah de fuc_king blah....

Another internet tough guy.

[Travel2003]

The OPs post also remind me of a post I did some time back (a year or two), decribing I was so tired of being harrased by this drunk guy that I wanted to smash my bottle in his head.

The usual lynch mob here attacked me instantly asking why I wanted to do this horrible thing.

I actually had to explain the obvious that it was just a silly though. Same angry and silly thoughts one sometimes have when one want to kill someone, but would of course never ever do it.

I find the similarities in the OP's post, where he used words like I thought, I wonder.

I choose to believe that he would actually not do this if he had his kid there.

But for the regular mob here, they will always choose to believe the worst, so they can launch their attacks.

[gymshark]

Best thing to do: smiling

Christ! Give me a break! Let's all stand around grinning like a bunch of retards.

I don't know what your problem is ...blah blah blah

If your dumb ass ....blah blah blah.. You're IGNORANT!!...blah blah blah...

..... LOSER!!...unless you're a LOSER!!

...blah de fuc_king blah....

Another internet tough guy.

Maybe we should start a thread with pics of us, you can blank out the eyes or head so we can see what these web warriors look like?