Over Usage Of The Farang Word.

[Loz]

for the record, I prefer it to "Nico" and "chocolate man".

those two still make me think the person speaking should be pitied or beaten half to death... or both...

[gvallee2]

They dont use it.

Normal foreigner use 'westerner' and those married to bargirls use falang

[canuckamuck]

They dont use it.

Normal foreigner use 'westerner' and those married to bargirls use falang

You are either mistaken or you are referring to my wife as a bar girl.

Which one is it?

[Jingthing]

I think the question should be why write "farang" when I'm pretty sure all Thai's I have spoken to pronounce it "falang".

That's the hick pronunciation. The proper pronunciation is an R sound.

[PattayaParent]

I think the question should be why write "farang" when I'm pretty sure all Thai's I have spoken to pronounce it "falang".

That's the hick pronunciation. The proper pronunciation is an R sound.

JT's right, the Thai word farang has an R in it not an L.

[Loz]

Falang does not mean Caucasian. It means westerner. I don't think even the stupidest thai would mistake me for an caucasian but I get referred to as falang all the time. In both educated and education circles. ;o)

I think it is much akin to the Japanese "Gygin". The mean is, OUTSIDER. but thais not recognising political correctness in any way that resembles the western value system, think this is fine. The Japanese know it is an insult and use it selectively.

[Jingthing]

Your mileage may vary. I toured Thailand with my Japanese American (not an immigrant) friend. He wasn't a farang to Thais. No way.

Edited January 12, 2010 by Jingthing

[NADTATIDA1]

When ever anybody sees me especially the older generation of thais the first words to come out of there mouth is "farang farang"

I can be riding my bike passing a shop or a group of thais drinking lao khao and the word i hear is "farang farang"

I can be playing with the kids in the village and all i hear is comments of "farang farang"

Everywhere we as farangs go we are always referred to as farang even to the extent of Thai family relations who actually know your name !! even they still refer to me as farang! (that used to get to me!)

So the point the op makes which is aimed at farangs calling each other farangs could really and genuinely be aimed at thais and there over use of the word at all levels.

We just follow them as it is easier to say than foriegner(sp) and easier for a thai to understand after all we are in Thailand and we are farang!

[zzaa09]

Farang is coming from the french army who was here some time ago, if want details just look at Thai history.

That seems to be the crutch, as most don't examine Siamese/Thai historiography carefully enough.

[zzaa09]

Falang does not mean Caucasian. It means westerner. I don't think even the stupidest thai would mistake me for an caucasian but I get referred to as falang all the time. In both educated and education circles. ;o)

I think it is much akin to the Japanese "Gygin". The mean is, OUTSIDER. but thais not recognising political correctness in any way that resembles the western value system, think this is fine. The Japanese know it is an insult and use it selectively.

......"western value system". Would this, through some distant kinship, be associated with Gandhi's sarcastic quip regarding "Western Civilisation"?

[Kitsch22]

I think the question should be why write "farang" when I'm pretty sure all Thai's I have spoken to pronounce it "falang".

"Farang" is a transliteration. "Falang" is a transcription.

[mca]

I'll use westerner if I'm speaking English or farang if I'm speaking Thai.

In my house we don't mix languages. Mainly it's to reiniforce my 6 year old daughter's language fluency and development to enable her to be fully (and by fully I don't simply mean "very good") bilingual.

[Loz]

Wow MCA,

Sounds like the party never stops at your house.

[mca]

Wow MCA,

Sounds like the party never stops at your house.

Sure. They call me the Kegmeister General dude!

[jdinasia]

I understand the orgin and it's meaning, I'm asking why do so many foreigner's use it instead of (foreigner) when speaking in english to others?

Is it that it's one of the first Thai words they learn when comming here?

Farang and foreigner are not the same at all ... Chinese are foreigners ... Africans are foreigners.

But man this subject has been done to death.....

[Jingthing]

But man this subject has been done to death.....

And it will likely continue to be done to death long after Bangkok is under the Gulf of Thailand. Like I said, before, resistance is futile. There are worse words.

[jimbeam1]

surely its just an easy way to describe us here in thailand..........after all we are foreigners here and it is easy to say,no more no less.

As simple as that. Well said

jb1

[neverdie]

Is this the most done to death topic in the history of the TV Forum? If not, it must be right up there That is ofcourse, along with why i was fleeced by my Thai gf!

I think this topic actually runs second to sin sot related threads.

Speaking of which, I havent seen many this week.

[SeanMoran]

It's just jargon, shop-talk, quick and easy plain and simple like ASCII English for Major Hollywood players and dancers and losers and dreamers and anyone who can take a joke.

Otherwise, it's second-placegetter to Mr Kangaloo as a moniker that most people call me when they have trouble working out the difference between Sean and John. Mr Spoon is a contender but newbie tourists are not guaranteed to understand why that might be unless they memorised the entire works of Poomsan-Becker on the plane flight over.

How many times do we have to repeat this?

Edited January 12, 2010 by SeanMoran

[dumball]

Actually , it does not bother me within reason what I am called , just as long as I am not called late for lunch .

[Jimjim]

Nasty beast that farang word. Number one word expats probably pick up and start to use like a normal, English word. It is what it is, just let it be. This is Thailand, not everyone's home country.

[Neeranam]

It's like the blacks using n*gger. It's ok for farang to say farang, but not for others.

No, its not as derogatory as that. It can be neutral and descriptive or it can be very insulting depending on the context. Also, it refers mostly to white "western" foreigners, so just saying farang in reference to Thai topics is more convenient. I think people would be even more insulted if we always said white foreigners instead of farang.

It's exactly like Chinese people in the Uk going around calling themselves' Chinkies' , or Pakistanis calling themselves 'Pakis'.

but they don't, as they understand that it is not a term of endearment.

Most foreigners here can't understand Thai so don't realize that it's fast becoming a very rascist term.

[Jingthing]

Well, I can't get my knickers in a twist over this, but don't mind if you do ...

[canuckamuck]

The way some people use the word Thai, you would think that it is a racist term as well. Oh wait!

[PattayaParent]

Your mileage may vary. I toured Thailand with my Japanese American (not an immigrant) friend. He wasn't a farang to Thais. No way.

Agree, my English friend of Indian descent (2 generations previous) was always a Khon Kaek

[jdinasia]

In the NE of Thailand (and in Laos) the "r" sound is not commonly used in the language,if you are hearing 'falang' and not farang then you are quite likely hanging out with people from Isaan or Laos.

[canuckamuck]

In the NE of Thailand (and in Laos) the "r" sound is not commonly used in the language,if you are hearing 'falang' and not farang then you are quite likely hanging out with people from Isaan or Laos.

Not

[Tod Daniels]

I think the question should be why write "farang" when I'm pretty sure all Thai's I have spoken to pronounce it "falang".

That's the hick pronunciation. The proper pronunciation is an R sound.

JT's right, the Thai word farang has an R in it not an L.

The previous posters are correct. In looking at the spelling of the thai word; ฝรั่ง one can quite quickly see (if you can even read thai ) there is no ‘L’ sound in it, and it has the thai character which is represented as an ‘R’ sound.

I concur pronouncing it with an ‘L’ would be the “hick pronunciation”. I’d let a thai slide on this pronunciation as it’s their frickin’ language and I’m certainly not the pronunciation police. IMHO, the mispronunciation is made all that much more pathetic if it is spoken by a foreigner.

While there are no shortage of inventive ways to spell thai words in engrish; spelling it as ‘falang’ instead of ‘farang’ is clearly wrong. Hearing a thai national or a foreigner speak it this way also shows the relative education level of the people you may associate with here in the glorious “Land ‘O Thais".

No matter how you spell it in engrish; ฝรั่ง is a word I NEVER EVER utter and I’m going on my 5th year here. There are plenty of other perfectly good words which denote a foreigner. Three that immediately spring to mind are;

คนต่างชาติ khohn-dtaang-chaat

ชาวต่างชาติ chaao-dtaang-chaat

คนต่างด้าว khohn-dtaang-daao

ALL of the above words denote a person OTHER than a thai national i.e.: a foreigner. The middle example is actually on almost all the Thai Immigration forms. Given the thais rampant penchant for racism even against their own, I feel it’s always better to be err on the side of caution when referring to myself or other foreigners here.

To the foreigners who say it carries no connotation or is akin to any other word in the thai language, all I can say is this. You are nothing more than mindless, sheep-like, “wanna-b-thai” foreign sock puppets hel_l-bent on embracing your ‘inner-thai-ness’ or rushing head long into becoming one with the mythical thing known as ‘thai culture’.

If you could speak, read and/or understand even rudimentary spoken thai you would quite quickly discern just how much of a negative connotation this word can carry when spoken by thais. Enough negativity that I can't imagine why ANY foreigner would ever use it in reference to either themself or another foreign person. Honestly, the drive some foreigners have to “fit in” with these ever smiling, yet diminutive people, truly wobbles my mind.

My advice to you, if you’re a foreigner; don’t ever say it and don’t ever acknowledge it if someone addresses you that way. Especially, if that someone is another foreigner.

The jury may still be out on the original etymology of the word, but what ever it is; in today’s day and age it certainly has morphed from what it was originally into a word with a much more racist, demeaning and denigrating meaning in some spoken contexts.

Note 2 MODZ: sorry for using the thai language on a forum other than the language one, but, the spelling of thai words in engrish is spotty at best (I used the thai spelling with the phonemic transcription as examples only for clarification, and will try to refrain from doing it again. I also consider myself duly chastised )

[Jingthing]

The word is used in different ways. Someone says farang food. Big deal. We know what they mean. Western food. Someone says Hello Farang! (Farang kee nok, etc.) Not such a nice feeling. You have to look at the context. I am most certainly not in the Thai-ier than Thai crowd, but I just think an endless resistance against the F word is a futile exercise. I guess I do at least sympathize and understand the sentiment that we shouldn't use it or promote it though.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

The way some people use the word Thai, you would think that it is a racist term as well. Oh wait!

I suppose that was flip, but in case it wasn't, Thai is a nationality. Nobody is offended if we are referred to by our nationality, unless the person already knows us and says Hey there Pommie, instead oh Hello Reginald.