I don’t think Thais are any more Xenophobic than anyone. Do You?

[Thai at Heart]

They are. They tolerate us. We can't buy a house! Even if married with kids..

Many countries prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of land and real estate... with good reason!

Mexico for example does not allow foreign ownership of coastal lands, if they did their entire coastline would have been bought up by wealthy Americans.

Bonefish,

What you state is the truth, a little over a decade ago, Mexico revised its law, under The North American Free Trade Agreement, and true to the word American investors immediately purchased all the beach front land around where I lived in the zona Libre (Free zone) Puerto Penasco, Sonora. The result was immediate, the cost of living increased dramatically to where it was no longer a economical place to live.

I packed up and moved to Thailand. The same thing will happen here if land purchases were opened up to non-Thai's. Thailand is being very farsighted /clever in limiting land sales to Thai's only!

Cheers:

Ah, but you miss the point completely. Whilst the Thai's have been running around pointing fingers at white men, and middle easterners, and black men as the enemies, the bogeymen who will take their country. These numbskulls granted passports to another immigrant population who immediately bought up all the beach front property and told the thais to keep pointing the fingers at the dreaded outsiders.

Thai's have already lost their country, and woe betide what might happen once that little scam really becomes apparent to the Thais. The only people possessing land worthy of buying are Chinese. And yes I call them Chinese and not Thai Chinese, on the basis of asking, would these families send their children to fight for Thailand? Nope. They are happy to pay Thai's to do that for them.

[kikoman]

They are. They tolerate us. We can't buy a house! Even if married with kids..

Many countries prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of land and real estate... with good reason!

Mexico for example does not allow foreign ownership of coastal lands, if they did their entire coastline would have been bought up by wealthy Americans.

Bonefish,

What you state is the truth, a little over a decade ago, Mexico revised its law, under The North American Free Trade Agreement, and true to the word American investors immediately purchased all the beach front land around where I lived in the zona Libre (Free zone) Puerto Penasco, Sonora. The result was immediate, the cost of living increased dramatically to where it was no longer a economical place to live.

I packed up and moved to Thailand. The same thing will happen here if land purchases were opened up to non-Thai's. Thailand is being very farsighted /clever in limiting land sales to Thai's only!

Cheers:

Ah, but you miss the point completely. Whilst the Thai's have been running around pointing fingers at white men, and middle easterners, and black men as the enemies, the bogeymen who will take their country. These numbskulls granted passports to another immigrant population who immediately bought up all the beach front property and told the thais to keep pointing the fingers at the dreaded outsiders.

Thai's have already lost their country, and woe betide what might happen once that little scam really becomes apparent to the Thais. The only people possessing land worthy of buying are Chinese. And yes I call them Chinese and not Thai Chinese, on the basis of asking, would these families send their children to fight for Thailand? Nope. They are happy to pay Thai's to do that for them.

And your point is??

I live in harmony with the Thai's in my village, I for one know what I post as fact, I live everyday for the last 8 years completely involved with my Thai friends and neighbors as the only Farang in the village and have never seen the crap you-all state as discrimination,

Have you ever considered that it is just you personally people dislike. Why would you even consider living in a country you dislike.

Cheers:

[Thaddeus]

as the only Farang in the village and have never seen the crap you-all state as discrimination,

I find this to be a very odd statement, it is almost worthy of "I'm Spartacus" except in the opposite direction.

[beautifulthailand99]

I've always thought it was the Thai-Chinese (about 14% of the population) who basically run the show - business wise and have done a good job of covering their tracks that stoke the pot of Xenophobia against the 'Farang' so that the gaze of the downtrodden ethnic Thais is diverted from the almost total takeover of their country. The Sino-Thais have seen how Chinese in Malaysia and Indonesia have experienced resentment at their superior business skills and work ethic can and so can come to dominate less driven cultures and lead to riots and widespread discontent and thus it is very convenient to point the finger elsewhere.

Source Wikipedia

Of the 25 leading entrepreneurs in the Thai business sector, 23 are ethnic Chinese or of partial Chinese origin.^[47] Thai Chinese also control 96 percent of Thailand's 70 most powerful business groups .

[super22k]

The Thais envy us and the envy turns to resentment. Bye the way, a Farang is a small green apple.

[kikoman]

My daughter is engaged to a Thai-Chinese young man, His family owns a business and they are fairly well to do, I asked him are you as the Farang's put it "Thai Chinese HiSo" and he laughed. I also asked him if he considered himself more Chinese or Thai, He said he is Thai, has no connection to China As he is the only Thai Chinese, I know as Thai Chinese then I can honestly state by my own personal experience a 100% of the Thai-Chinese I know, disagree with your observations. Which have no bases in reality, and consider themselves to be 100% Thai, if there was a war between Thailand and China he would fight for Thailand.

He has no preconceived notions about "Falangs" as I am the only Farang he personality knows, I also asked him if he harbored a dislike for Falang's, and replied to the negative as he had never associated with them, had no reason to have such notions.

BTW, your definition of Falang is also a misconception, look it up!

Only my opinion based on my experience with "Thai Chinese fairly well to do" not HiSo!

Cheers:

Edited October 18, 2013 by kikoman

[Thaddeus]

Still got the inscrutable thing going on then.

[MacChine]

If a term is used to denote a race, and farang means Caucasian, then it is racist, and it's casual use, especially in front of me, <deleted> , is evidence of just how ingrained racism is in the culture.

I well remember my grandfather defending the term N*gg*r as "not racist. " Of course it was and of course he was.

Farang is not a racist term. It's only the idea of certain people who get offended for any reason and think that others are out to disrespect them. Yes some use it as a derogatory term but the word itself is not racist and was not created to insult people.

[MacChine]

Well, if you have an argument , other than a personal slur, to support your point that... well er,.... what's is your point? I've got about 9 likes on my statement so there seems to be a consensus that there is truth to it.

I also wonder how many defenders here have Thai partners sheilding them from certain realities- that Thais dislike foreigners intensely. And yes, I'd say you may well have a disingenuous partner using you for money.

I say dam_n straight Thais are xenophobic. It is apparent in the immigration and foreign business rules, too.

The point of those various slang terms is that it's very, very rude to use them. To call someone a chink or wop is bad enough but when they are in front of you? Indescribably rude, Thais get away with it , as they do with other appalling behavior and rules as many western males need to engage them sexually.

I often call Thais on it when they refer to me as farang, " Please don't use racist terms.." I'll say. Especially in service type situations such as in the bank, etc. Of course they giggle in that idiotic way they use to cover up stupid mistakes. And of course I simply stare at them with my most rigid poker face , and of course they get uncomfortable , and of course I enjoy it !!

Yep, I have no respect for their obscenely feudal, sexist culture, and no they are not a race, ( though some seem to think they are..)but a nation of poorly educated people that detest foreigners and see them as nothing but wallets.

All IMO, of course!!

you must be a riot to live with.

[dao16]

If a term is used to denote a race, and farang means Caucasian, then it is racist, and it's casual use, especially in front of me, <deleted> , is evidence of just how ingrained racism is in the culture.

I well remember my grandfather defending the term N*gg*r as "not racist. " Of course it was and of course he was.

Farang is not a racist term. It's only the idea of certain people who get offended for any reason and think that others are out to disrespect them. Yes some use it as a derogatory term but the word itself is not racist and was not created to insult people.

I don't think it is a bad thing, if it conforms to this rule: Is it being used in the same way you would use "Asian" in English when talking about someone from this continent? If so, ok.

For example, A: "Where is Joe?

B: "Who?"

A: "You know, Joe, the falang from down the street."

That seems totally fine to me as I would do the same thing if I were talking about an Asian guy at home. It would be an easy way to identify him.

I object to it if it is someone who has met me already and keeps calling me falang. Again, I wouldn't do that to an Asian in the West...it would be rude.

So, really, it just means someone from the West and doesn't have to be bad, depending on how it is used.

[inthepink]

Well, if you have an argument , other than a personal slur, to support your point that... well er,.... what's is your point? I've got about 9 likes on my statement so there seems to be a consensus that there is truth to it.

I also wonder how many defenders here have Thai partners sheilding them from certain realities- that Thais dislike foreigners intensely. And yes, I'd say you may well have a disingenuous partner using you for money.

I would estimate that I can understand around 90% of casual conversation in Thai so there's no way that my partner could shield me from what you claim to be the reality here and she certainly isn't using me for money. Thai people may exhibit certain xenophobic characteristics, as do citizens of all countries - I only have to pop back to the UK if I want to hear misguided xenophobes ranting about how there are too many immigrants in the country.

As a nation, it's impossible to generalise about people and anybody that attempts to is a racist or xenophobe themselves. I have met many friendly Thai people here, a fair number that don't seem to care one way or another and a couple that have been openly hostile.The fact that nine people on this forum agree with you is nothing to boast about by the way.

[kikoman]

If a term is used to denote a race, and farang means Caucasian, then it is racist, and it's casual use, especially in front of me, <deleted> , is evidence of just how ingrained racism is in the culture.

I well remember my grandfather defending the term N*gg*r as "not racist. " Of course it was and of course he was.

Farang is not a racist term. It's only the idea of certain people who get offended for any reason and think that others are out to disrespect them. Yes some use it as a derogatory term but the word itself is not racist and was not created to insult people.

I don't think it is a bad thing, if it conforms to this rule: Is it being used in the same way you would use "Asian" in English when talking about someone from this continent? If so, ok.

For example, A: "Where is Joe?

B: "Who?"

A: "You know, Joe, the falang from down the street."

That seems totally fine to me as I would do the same thing if I were talking about an Asian guy at home. It would be an easy way to identify him.

I object to it if it is someone who has met me already and keeps calling me falang. Again, I wouldn't do that to an Asian in the West...it would be rude.

So, really, it just means someone from the West and doesn't have to be bad, depending on how it is used.

Before you put your mouth in motion, you should put your brain in gear!

You do not have any idea of what the word Farang means, in comes from the Persian word "Farangg" that was brought to Thailand in the 1700's, 200 years before the westerners arrived in any significant numbers to Thailand during the Vietnam.war.

Documents by historical facts that the word Farang did not originated in Thailand, and it is not used as an insult. That word is widely used in North Africa and the Middle East as well is the Hindi language in India and simple means foreigner with European heritage.

I know many of you "need" the word to be an insult, so you can have something to complain about,(I have my opinion do not try to distort it with facts.)

The example you gave that "your grandfather defending the term n###*r as not racist'" only gives an indication of the type of environment you grew up in. The answer being at your finger tips on the internet, if you really wanted to know the true definition of that word, It is truly a sad indication of how your world is enclosed by your blinders and tunnel vision perception and you only see what you want to see regardless of the proven historical facts that prove you are wrong.

Cheers:

[dao16]

If a term is used to denote a race, and farang means Caucasian, then it is racist, and it's casual use, especially in front of me, <deleted> , is evidence of just how ingrained racism is in the culture.

I well remember my grandfather defending the term N*gg*r as "not racist. " Of course it was and of course he was.

Farang is not a racist term. It's only the idea of certain people who get offended for any reason and think that others are out to disrespect them. Yes some use it as a derogatory term but the word itself is not racist and was not created to insult people.

I don't think it is a bad thing, if it conforms to this rule: Is it being used in the same way you would use "Asian" in English when talking about someone from this continent? If so, ok.

For example, A: "Where is Joe?

B: "Who?"

A: "You know, Joe, the falang from down the street."

That seems totally fine to me as I would do the same thing if I were talking about an Asian guy at home. It would be an easy way to identify him.

I object to it if it is someone who has met me already and keeps calling me falang. Again, I wouldn't do that to an Asian in the West...it would be rude.

So, really, it just means someone from the West and doesn't have to be bad, depending on how it is used.

Before you put your mouth in motion, you should put your brain in gear!

You do not have any idea of what the word Farang means, in comes from the Persian word "Farangg" that was brought to Thailand in the 1700's, 200 years before the westerners arrived in any significant numbers to Thailand during the Vietnam.war.

Documents by historical facts that the word Farang did not originated in Thailand, and it is not used as an insult. That word is widely used in North Africa and the Middle East as well is the Hindi language in India and simple means foreigner with European heritage.

I know many of you "need" the word to be an insult, so you can have something to complain about,(I have my opinion do not try to distort it with facts.)

The example you gave that "your grandfather defending the term n###*r as not racist'" only gives an indication of the type of environment you grew up in. The answer being at your finger tips on the internet, if you really wanted to know the true definition of that word, It is truly a sad indication of how your world is enclosed by your blinders and tunnel vision perception and you only see what you want to see regardless of the proven historical facts that prove you are wrong.

Cheers:

I always get freaked out when people respond to my posts but are arguing against someone else.....hahahaha....takes me a while to figure out who is talking to whom. Anyway....

I have seen from your posts that you are from Mexico. To an extent, I kind of see "falang" and "gringo" as working in similar ways sometimes (I lived in Mexico City for several years and have had a connection with the country for many years now).

I don't mean in terms of origin, or anything, but I do remember always thinking of "gringo" as an insult before I met a bunch of Mexicans in my hometown and we started hanging out (which is how I ended up going to Mexico later). The word "gringo" was just easy and my friends used it without any malice all the time (this is an international crowd of Mexicans who have lived and worked all over the world, including the US) and I used it, too, in informal contexts. However, much like "falang", you could easily tell when someone was saying it in an angry/aggressive way.

I think the mistake a lot of westerners here make is assuming that it is always a bad thing. I can't remember the last time I have heard it in a negative context...mostly just observational, much like I might say "Hey, look at what those Asians guys are eating...I wonder what that is..." if I were in the West.

[spidermike007]

there's a difference between xenophobia AND nationalism or protectionism...

i don't think thai are xenophobic.

however, most thai are uneducated/simple minded and therefore think in generalizations (with thx to the thai mongoloid educational system).

the same way simple minded people in the west think all arabs are thiefs, all jews are greedy, all gay have aids, all western men in thailand scr€w whores, etc

my neighbour with whom i eat everyday now tells his friend that ALL FARANG LIKE GARLIC, since i (the only farang he knows) like garlic

my neighbour is a genius

I will say this with a sense of humor, and please take it with a grain of salt. I sometimes think the greatest curse this nation has faced was the LACK of colonialism! It opens the minds to the outside world, as it did in Malaysia, Singapore, India, and countless other spots. The fact that Thailand was never colonialized (I will not count the nearly 3 year Japanese occupation that took place during WWII) sometimes holds her back in a sense that there is little awareness of what goes on in the outside world, geopolitics, geography, etc, etc. So, one can say something like all farang like garlic, and not be taken to task by ones neighbors, or companions. Maybe all farangs do like garlic. LOL. I do agree that most Thais are not xenophobic. The Vietnamese are xenophobic, and it is a very unpleasant place to travel for that reason. But, not so in Thailand. Nationalistic perhaps, as stickylies stated.

[A1Str8]

Argue all you like. Farang is not a racist term.

[kikoman]

Dao 16,

I was addressing The other poster that stated his grandfathers story, but I would have to disagree with you on the word Gringo in comparison with the word Falang, the word gringo originated during the U.S./ Mexican war and was a term used to denote North Americans because Mexicans along with all people from the American continent all considered themselves Americans. From Alaska to Argentina and do not call U. S. people as simply Americans, as the U.S. uniforms were Green, the people would yell at them "Green Go" there is also an urban myth it was due to a song that contained these words in the lyrics"Green grow the rushes". Gringo also was not originated as an insult, it denoted North Americans.

The word Farang in turn did not originate in Thailand as their word for foreigners of European origin, it was a Persian word brought to Thailand by Arabic traders in the 1700's, that was widely used in North Africa and the Middle East and simply means "Foreigners of European origin".

Most any word can be used as an insult depending on the situation and the tone it is used in, but for expats that simply hear Thai's mention the word farang and consider it is used as an insult about them are overly paranoid,

The word Farang simply denotes "a foreigner of European origin" and is not a insult.

Cheers:

Edited October 18, 2013 by kikoman

[A1Str8]

Dao 16,

 

I was addressing The other poster that stated his grandfathers story, but I would have to disagree with you on the word Gringo in comparison with the  word Falang, the word gringo originated during the U.S./ Mexican war and was a term used to denote North Americans because Mexicans along with all people from the American continent all considered themselves Americans.  From Alaska to Argentina and do not call U. S. people as simply Americans, as the U.S. uniforms were Green, the people would yell at them "Green Go" there is also an urban myth it was due to a song that contained these words in the lyrics"Green grow the rushes". Gringo also was not originated as an insult, it denoted North Americans.

 

The word Farang in turn did not originate in Thailand as their word for foreigners of European origin, it was a Persian word brought to Thailand by Arabic traders in the 1700's, that was widely used in North Africa and the Middle East and simply means "Foreigners of European origin". 

 

Most any word can be used as an insult depending on the situation and the tone it is used in, but for expats that simply hear Thai's mention the word farang and consider it is used as an insult about them are overly paranoid,

 

The word Farang simply denotes "a foreigner of European origin" and is not a insult.

 

Cheers:

I agree. Several well educated thais have explained it to me and said the same what you just said:

The word Farang simply denotes "a foreigner of European origin" and is not a insult.

[Jingthing]

Whether a country is relatively xenophobic or not is largely going to come down to subjective impressions. My subjective impression after travelling to many, many countries is that Thailand does indeed rate quite high on the xenophobia meter.

It does on the other hand, rather ironically have one of the easiest visa systems in the world for pseudo-residency.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Jingthing

[dao16]

Dao 16,

I was addressing The other poster that stated his grandfathers story, but I would have to disagree with you on the word Gringo in comparison with the word Falang, the word gringo originated during the U.S./ Mexican war and was a term used to denote North Americans because Mexicans along with all people from the American continent all considered themselves Americans. From Alaska to Argentina and do not call U. S. people as simply Americans, as the U.S. uniforms were Green, the people would yell at them "Green Go" there is also an urban myth it was due to a song that contained these words in the lyrics"Green grow the rushes". Gringo also was not originated as an insult, it denoted North Americans.

The word Farang in turn did not originate in Thailand as their word for foreigners of European origin, it was a Persian word brought to Thailand by Arabic traders in the 1700's, that was widely used in North Africa and the Middle East and simply means "Foreigners of European origin".

Most any word can be used as an insult depending on the situation and the tone it is used in, but for expats that simply hear Thai's mention the word farang and consider it is used as an insult about them are overly paranoid,

The word Farang simply denotes "a foreigner of European origin" and is not a insult.

Cheers:

Hey....

Yeah, I mentioned in my reply to you that I didn't mean to compare the origins at all. Rather, I meant that the way people see the word when they have not experienced how people actually use it, just like the word "falang." But then maybe they do experience it in a negative situation (or think it is being used that way) and that colors the way they see it from them on, even though most of the time it is innocuous.

[benalibina]

The thai word for foreigner is; khon tang chaat !

[MacChine]

What a load!! Referring to people in slang that denotes their skin colour and race, " isn't racist ..."

My god, is there nothing foreigners in Tand won't put up with to maintain their access to sex?

Edited October 18, 2013 by MacChine

[MacChine]

Yes it is , it's as racist as any other slang term denoting race.

Argue all you like. Farang is not a racist term.

[MacChine]

Well Ididn'tt grow up with my grandfather, nor in his town. In fact my mother would chide him for using the term around her daughter. . I only argue he used a racist term in a racist way , but completely denied it was racist, So seems folks like him abound on the forum.

Thais are racist, xenophobic and for the most part, sadly uneducated and feudal. They don't fool me, but I'm not into procuring them either,

If a term is used to denote a race, and farang means Caucasian, then it is racist, and it's casual use, especially in front of me, <deleted> , is evidence of just how ingrained racism is in the culture.

I well remember my grandfather defending the term N*gg*r as "not racist. " Of course it was and of course he was.

Farang is not a racist term. It's only the idea of certain people who get offended for any reason and think that others are out to disrespect them. Yes some use it as a derogatory term but the word itself is not racist and was not created to insult people.

I don't think it is a bad thing, if it conforms to this rule: Is it being used in the same way you would use "Asian" in English when talking about someone from this continent? If so, ok.

For example, A: "Where is Joe?

B: "Who?"

A: "You know, Joe, the falang from down the street."

That seems totally fine to me as I would do the same thing if I were talking about an Asian guy at home. It would be an easy way to identify him.

I object to it if it is someone who has met me already and keeps calling me falang. Again, I wouldn't do that to an Asian in the West...it would be rude.

So, really, it just means someone from the West and doesn't have to be bad, depending on how it is used.

Before you put your mouth in motion, you should put your brain in gear!

You do not have any idea of what the word Farang means, in comes from the Persian word "Farangg" that was brought to Thailand in the 1700's, 200 years before the westerners arrived in any significant numbers to Thailand during the Vietnam.war.

Documents by historical facts that the word Farang did not originated in Thailand, and it is not used as an insult. That word is widely used in North Africa and the Middle East as well is the Hindi language in India and simple means foreigner with European heritage.

I know many of you "need" the word to be an insult, so you can have something to complain about,(I have my opinion do not try to distort it with facts.)

The example you gave that "your grandfather defending the term n###*r as not racist'" only gives an indication of the type of environment you grew up in. The answer being at your finger tips on the internet, if you really wanted to know the true definition of that word, It is truly a sad indication of how your world is enclosed by your blinders and tunnel vision perception and you only see what you want to see regardless of the proven historical facts that prove you are wrong.

Cheers:

[laolover88]

In ancient Thai the full phrase is farang dta namkhao ('rice color eye people') : not entirely polite. The Persian word is farangi..derived from Frank and firinjiya from arabic !!

[Sayonarax]

David Bowie - Im afraid of Americans comes to mind.

[kikoman]

Many will attempt to rewrite Thai history or language to meet their own personal needs or prejudices,

The historical facts that no one can deny is the word "Farang" as most have mentioned in their post not only to this thread but other thread throughout the forum.

!. The word did not originate in Thailand!

2. It was brought to Thailand in the 1700's by Arabic traders and was used to denote foreigners with European heritage.

3 It was used 200 years before the current influx of westerners to Thailand since the Vietnam war.

4 it is not a racist term.

All the Thai's I know state farang defines foreigners!

Those expat's who feeble attempts to state foreigners are denoted by different terms is hypocritical as their post on file in the forum shows they have always stated the fact that "Farang" denotes foreigners in Thailand.

Cheers:

Edited October 19, 2013 by kikoman

[Jingthing]

The word f-rang can and is used in both derogatory (yes racist) and non-derogatory (not racist) ways.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Jingthing

[HeijoshinCool]

Farang can absolutely be derogatory, and often is.

Either way, it is rude, crude, uncivilized and boorish. If you can't say, "the blond man at the counter," or "the lady in the red dress," or, "the customer at table five," you're uneducated, and obviously couldn't care less about the person to whom you refer.

[kikoman]

Let paranoia abound, as you have a reason to insist the word Farang is an insult when any intelligent person understands it is not an insult.

So you are saying when a Thai orders a potato (Mon Farang) in reality he states in Thai " give me a <deleted>&*en potato"!

Whatever floats your boat

Cheers:

[benalibina]

The thai word for foreigner is; KHON TANG CHAAT !!!!!!!!