The Term "Farang"

[zzaa09]

The Portuguese were quite active in Siam in the 1500's. So what were these white people called back then?

So were Arabs and Persians {active in the region}.....long before your Portuguese.:jap:

Right. Technically both Caucasian groups of people. Lots happening with light skinned people for a long, long time here.

Technically, I believe semitic peoples belong to cousin Oriental groups, not the Euro bloodlines that you insist upon.

[Jingthing]

The Portuguese were quite active in Siam in the 1500's. So what were these white people called back then?

So were Arabs and Persians {active in the region}.....long before your Portuguese.:jap:

Right. Technically both Caucasian groups of people. Lots happening with light skinned people for a long, long time here.

Technically, I believe semitic peoples belong to cousin Oriental groups, not the Euro bloodlines that you insist upon.

Persians aren't semitic. Arabs and Jews obviously are. I am not looking for an argument about whether Arabs and Jews are caucasian or not; don't think that is really appropriate here.

[Tod Daniels]

Oh GREAT, good to see, this thread about what I like to call; "the 'F' word" has still refused to die a slow death as it should have LONG ago .

A quick search lead to post after post about this same mundane topic .

I believe its right up there with other mind-numbing topics like; how much salary to pay my thai girlfriend? , or; how much sin-sod should I give my previously married, totally uneducated thai wife-to-b from Nakhon Nowhere with 3 thai kids by 2 different thai fathers? , and the ever popular; how much salary do I give my thai girlfriends family to live on each month? . The mind sometimes wobbles at the fact that these topics are resurrected time and again yet still get hundreds of responses..

But I digress, so without further ado;

BACK ON TOPIC:

Context context context IMHO

<SNIP>

You really need to see the whole picture and understand the surrounding words in the sentence using "farang" to understand if its being used derogatory or not.

I concur with the quoted post made by the poster known as "sanook2me": it's the context ALONE in which the word is used; nothing more, nothing less.

(I will offer out, in places where long nosed, white skinned foreigners are thin on the ground, its mostly an innocuous observational comment. Conversely where foreigners are thick as ticks on a dogs back, it can and quite often does carry quite a different meaning! )

Only by understanding the word in spoken context could a foreigner discern if a thai is painting you as not thai with "a very broad brush" with this word, or if it's meant in a disparaging and/or derogatory way.

FWIW: Here's a "Mock-u-mentary" posted on You Tube which should clear up any questions you have about the word;

Edited July 30, 2010 by tod-daniels

[PattayaParent]

Also - what's with the 'hear we go again' comments .... this is a forum for discussion .... could you imagine walking into your local to meet your mates and saying 'what about that match last night' and they all groan and say 'we discussed footy last week, can't you use the search function??'

Maybe because talking about the match last night would not be the same as talking about the different match last week.

Whereas talking about the word Farang is EXACTLY THE SAME EVERY WEEK it's raised on here.

Edit: Just UTFSE and you'll see, exactly the same posts from exactly the same people.

Edited July 30, 2010 by PattayaParent

[Familyonthemove]

.... I see your point .... but there may be some new insights, original viewpoints or intelligent observations .... ?

Or perhaps not:whistling:

[Jingthing]

Nothing new here.

[hhgz]

"But it has begged me to ask a question, exactly what do you folks think is the official description of a "Farang"?"

"Begged me to ask a question". Please. "Farang" means "foreigner". It is that simple.

[Jingthing]

"But it has begged me to ask a question, exactly what do you folks think is the official description of a "Farang"?"

"Begged me to ask a question". Please. "Farang" means "foreigner". It is that simple.

No it doesn't. It means WHITE foreigner. It is a word about RACE.

[zzaa09]

Nothing new here.

Sure. Vacant and false insight and enlightenment occurs. The competition is first and foremost.

[monkfish]

Any SLANG word used to generalise an entire race or even nation is derogative, whether it be Ngier, &lt;deleted&gt;, Spick, Cinq, frog or whatever.

Do Caucasians have slang words for Asians? Yes and are they deemed derogative? of cource!! and we don't use them unless we want to be rude.

Can you say I like &lt;deleted&gt; food and its not derogative? I love Cinq food?

Think about it , if you yourself use the F word its mostly in a derogative way.

In Thai culture where respect and face are very important using slang words is even more insulting than the Western culture.

But the word has just about found its way into most Thai dictionary's now so may be it is no longer counted as slang.

[Peterbigeyes]

It took me awhile to understand what that word meant. Glad it was explained though

[thithi]

It is the neutral word. nothing is wrong with that.

"FARANG FARANG FARANG"

[473geo]

My wife hates it when I use the phrase 'Farang kee nok'.................because it is usually followed by.........."my wife has all the money"......at which point the would be borrowers turn to her...... .............the word carries no nasty meaning for me......I find the more you get to know people the more they then start to use your name.

[monkfish]

It is the neutral word. nothing is wrong with that.

"FARANG FARANG FARANG"

You are right we deserve the title FARNG for we are just walking ATM's and not people.

[Jingthing]

It is the neutral word. nothing is wrong with that.

"FARANG FARANG FARANG"

You are right we deserve the title FARNG for we are just walking ATM's and not people.

As soon as Chinese people refer to THEMSELVES as Chinamen, that's when I'll start to refer to myself as Farang. Do what you want but in my view it is foolish to play along with this degrading word.

[Thongkorn]

There is another explanation , falang is a fruit which is white , because most westerners are white they call us falang,

[monkfish]

There is another explanation , falang is a fruit which is white , because most westerners are white they call us falang,

Mann farrang?? That's what i though but most Thais I've questioned reckon its French related.

[Jingthing]

Yeah the average Thai on the street is an expert on word origins, that's the ticket.

[JPPR2]

I am in 100% agreement with 473Geo on the getting to know people in the fact that I am not a stand-offish person. As a Program Manager/Mfg Transfer coordinator 100% of my job is interpersonal engagement. So I introduce myself and we exchange names. I am always called by my name and we exchange courtesy's as applicable. I speak enough Thai to be polite and do not behave in a way that seems to be the belief Thai people have of "Farang's". After hour activities I am usually always with my girlfriend and Thai workers/colleagues and we do many various social things together. I will say that in further discussions with my friends that the name "Farang" clearly has deeper derogatory connotations in areas like Pattaya, Phuket and BKK. In my nearly 3 years I have not been to Pattaya nor Phuket and have no desire too. In the very beginning I stayed in BKK as the company set me up there but I quickly rented an apartment way outside there and closer to the company and I only to go into BKK for various needs and supplies but never down in the heart on Wireless Road, NaNa, Suhkamvit etc.

My final take on this is that it still appears to me to be a racial term to a great degree but your personal behavior depicts how your are perceived. I do not like the word and will not use even in jokingly manner out of respect for the Thai people and the foreigner colleague I might interact with. I will learn their name and "Farang" becomes moot.

I am sorry for all the folks that had to read "Another Thread" about this subject so maybe this one should be pinned or a link attached to it. There has been some very good content in the varying reply posts. I would have read that long before I would have posted.

Carry on.......

[Beetlejuice]

Right. Technically both Caucasian groups of people. Lots happening with light skinned people for a long, long time here.

You seem infatuated with, sexual category, race and religion,.

Why is that?

Edited July 30, 2010 by Beetlejuice

[Beetlejuice]

Oh GREAT, good to see, this thread about what I like to call; "the 'F' word" has still refused to die a slow death as it should have LONG ago .

FWIW: Here's a "Mock-u-mentary" posted on You Tube which should clear up any questions you have about the word;

A very insulting video.

Are farangs under the protection of the strict Thai derogatory laws? Does not appear so.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Beetlejuice

[Jingthing]

Right. Technically both Caucasian groups of people. Lots happening with light skinned people for a long, long time here.

You seem infatuated with, sexual category, race and religion,.

Why is that?

If you want to launch a personal vendetta, take a number, perhaps PM me. In any event, that kind of personal crap doesn't belong on a public thread.

Cheers.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Jingthing

[Richard W]

There is another explanation , falang is a fruit which is white , because most westerners are white they call us falang,

I always understand that the guava got this name because it was brought to Thailand by a group of farangs, namely the Portuguese.

[Jingthing]

There is another explanation , falang is a fruit which is white , because most westerners are white they call us falang,

I always understand that the guava got this name because it was brought to Thailand by a group of farangs, namely the Portuguese.

The guava originated in South and Central America. It is not a native fruit to S.E. Asia. Portugal colonized Brazil. The plot thickens.

[way2muchcoffee]

Not again. God help us all ...

Good lord JT, you're hardly one to talk. You had your run with this topic. Now it's somebody else's turn.

Are you suggesting I am a hypocrite? Fair enough, no shame in being in the same boat as Mother Theresa.

Nah. JT. Didn't intend any offense. Just remembering one of your threads on this one or two years back.

[Ulysses G.]

Not again. God help us all ...

Good lord JT, you're hardly one to talk. You had your run with this topic. Now it's somebody else's turn.

Jingthing seems to think that he is more interesting and entertaining than most of the other posters on the forum, so should be given a little leeway.

I have to admit that I agree with him.

[sanook2me]

Why did Americans stop using the word Oriental? Because many Asian people didn't like it, found it ignorant sounding and rude. Now only really backwards Americans use that word. The fact remains farang is an impolite word and there are more polite ways of saying white skinned westerner already in the Thai language. Hiso Thais will not call westerners farang to their face because they want to be polite. I don't like the word especially when used in front of me, such as overhearing that order is for the farang. I accept it is pervasive and probably won't go away, but that doesn't mean we can't realize impoliteness (and worse) when it's wagged in our face.

As a Brit I didn't know Oriental was a none PC word..its okay to use in England and I would rather describe my Thai wife to another Brit who didn't know I was married to a Thai as an Oriental lady rather than an Asian as general UK thinking is that Asians are from Pakistan/India.

[Berkshire]

Not again. God help us all ...

Good lord JT, you're hardly one to talk. You had your run with this topic. Now it's somebody else's turn.

Jingthing seems to think that he is more interesting and entertaining than most of the other posters on the forum, so should be given a little leeway.

I have to admit that I agree with him.

The problem, UG, is that JT seems to be a little overly confident in his knowledge of all things Thai. I'll concede that he does have above average knowledge on many things--but this is not one of them. The word farang did originate from the Thai word for French people. And I take it that he's offended by this word. He shouldn't be. It's a descriptive word that has a purpose and is used by Thai's for that reason. It's not meant to offend--it never has. To compare the word "farang" to truly offensive words used in, say, America, is disingenuous at best. There are many racially charged words in the US, the "N" word being the worst. The word "oriental" is similar to "colored people"--that is, it is an outdated term that harkens to the day when America was much more racist than it is today. In order for a word to be truly offensive, there has to be some history behind it. I doubt "farangs" in Thailand ever faced the sort of racism that African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, etc., had to deal with back in the day. Dual pricing? Visa regs? That's a joke, compared to lynchings, cross burnings, slavery, etc.

[elliss]

'farang' by itself has no negative connotations. It's essentially slang.

for foreigner ,

Case in point: do you fancy farang food tonight?

man farang ,, alloy mar ..

[sabaijai]

Opie, I believe you'll find all of the answers to your questions -- and more you haven't asked -- in the following thread in the Thai Language subforum, answered by members who know the language and the culture well.