Are Thai people racist? They keeping calling me "Farang"!

[mca]

This thread could have been nailed down with one word. Context.

[Rob8891]

They probably call you 'falang' because 'troll' is diabolically difficult for Thais to pronounce properly....

[JLCrab]

Dear Mrs Crab:

JL is still not paying attention in class, confusing one person with another, blurting out single words that make no sense. Words like "antlers!," whatever that means. Perhaps you know.

In addition, he does not play well with others.

Please take steps to correct this before next school year, or I believe, one day, he may grow up to publicly make inappropriate comments, embarrassing himself, and alienating those around him.

Sincerely,

J.L's Teacher

Yes JL's Teacher -- He certainly is a problem child but since, before he was even able to drive, he was doing the sophisticated probability calculations for our family company which helped us earn us sh-tloads of money, we tend to put up with his eccentricities . Thanks however for your concern. Jl's Mom

Just on a side note....is your mom as hot as Stifler's?

In the pre-American Pie "Wayne's World! Top Ten! Babes Of All Time! Excellent!" my Mother would probably come in looking like Betty Rubble but a lot taller -- she was taller than my Father.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/90/90swayne.phtml

[ayayay]

How do you get the idea that Farang is a racist word? Have you ever not heard a student talking, "Next is Ajarn Farngs class". Even Thai teacher's refer to foreigners as Ajarn Farangs.

Do you expect the Thai's call you, "Hey, look at that white man(Kon Kaao) walking in his stupid shorts" or whatever. It's just a word to describe foreigners. Because usually it's hard to tell the nationality. It CAN be used offensively such as, AI FARANG!! or just combining it with other offensive words. If it's so easy to tell if you're German, Australian, American, or whatever, I think people will call you, " Hey, look at that American" just as the Farangs call, The Thais, The Chinese or Asian.

There is a HUGE difference.

1. If I, for example, does not know the person, and see him from afar, most of the time, I do not need to point out if he is black, yellow, white or whatever, I usually say, "that person over there", or when really necessary to identify a specific person, I would say he was white, asian, or whatever, but usually, "that person", "that american", "that foreigner" is good enough. I know most people from the west would do the same.

2. For Thai people, "farang" is not only a casual way of describing us, it is in fact the same thing as objectifying us, by constantly being aware of the color of our skin. They will never let go of the fact that we are first and foremost white skinned. We on the other hand, if we get to knkow a person very well, we will very soon forget if he is Yellow, black or White. Also, nationality will mean less and less, the more we get to know the person. The person becomes more human, and less of an object.

Not so for Thais, a "farang" is something totally different. And no matter how much you know them, you are still first and foremost an object, "a white skin". Sure we have white skin, and we can be proud of that, but it can, and will many times become a problem because they, as someone above mentioned, is a way of dehumanizing us. It is then also easier to discriminate us, rip us off etc...

[colomboserb]

Just imagine if sri lanka would not have been into civil war for 30 years, thailand and Maldives would still be at stone age.....Most of the europeans did not even had a clue about thailand before the civil war in sri lanka....Anyhow i am kinda of happy now....at least a bit.... We call everyone that is not locals "Sudda" = White people. And it does not matter if your chinese or thai, or white ....or african. i think that is okey.

cos its not pointed to one single skin color.

And all cultures is racist, In Sri lanka as darker you are less aryan you are , (but actually that is factually wrong, aryans range from white to - totally black) . racism are everywhere. Lord Chiva is blue , In old days blue was "black" .

Lord Buddah was Aryan immigrant to nepal from afganistan/paksitan , but east asians make status of him look like a Thai or east asian (mongoloid) .Its also factually and historical false ! it makes everyone thinks buddism are a East asian religion and that is how buddists shuld look like. And not a indian/sri lankan or white male in buddism rob.

Jesus is blue eyed and white scandinavian , which i doubt existed in middle east and jerusalem. Its also make people think differently about other people....they respect whites more cos there god is was white on all pictures in the churuch, in south america, africa, asia.

All is well planned....trust me.

Edited November 5, 2013 by colomboserb

[dighambara]

Farang , simply means foriegner, that is no racist term in itself, but the manner and tone in which it is used can be offensive, in my opinion. To use and old phrase, its not what you say its the way you say it.

This is a good answer - according to many sources, the word Farang is derived from the word Foreigner.. A Farang is anyone from outside Thailand; Lao, Burmese, Japanese, etc. Most Thais misuse the word.

Most touristy places have a 'Farang'; and a Thai (Resident) price. Anyone with a local ID, pays the local (Resident) price - that is the law.

As for when I hear someone casually refer to me as a Farang, I ask 'Where..??' I don't see a Farang... That usually puts them off a bit.

Truth be told, I was here long before most of them were born and I have lived here longer than a few million Thais.

HMMM...??? I wonder how that makes me a 'Foreigner'..??

[partington]

Yes they are racist. Farang is a racist term no matter how much Thais try to say it is not. It is plain and simple. Any word like this that is used to identify a certain ethnic group that is not part of "us" is racist. Imagine back in our homeland (whatever country it may be) and you are asian and you overhear the wait staff at restaurant say: "You take the table with the Asian at it."

Imagine walking down the street and people pointing at you and nudging their partner "hey, hey, look! An Asian."

How about clearing up a traffic ticket at the local cop shop and when you bring the ticket in to retrieve your driver's license, the cop looks at you and shakes is head and says "Oh you asian."

But I don't get mad at the Thais. They don't understand it is racist. I try to educate them in a joking manner. "Duu Duu Duu farang!! " I stop and point back and say "Du du du,,, Khon Thai."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

I had the honour of placing a wreath on Remembrance Day ceremony in respect for those westerners and others who fell in battle. The wreath was provided by our town. Do you know what was written in bold letters across the wreath ..........................

" FARANGS OF UBON RATCHATHANI"

What do you think of that ?

So why no replies from the ''high horse'' farangs to my above post ?

Good one, Transam. And of course, the "high horse" farangs can't respond because it doesn't fit in with the racist-Thai arguments.

You would not be advised to walk into a store in , say Atlanta, Georgia, and say something like "No, serve this colored guy first, I'm not in a hurry", even though the entire US is littered with monuments to the fallen in conflicts from the Civil War to the Second World War that refer to "colored soldiers" .

The presence of a term on a monument does not disqualify it from being regarded as offensive.

I myself don't think the use of the word "farang" by Thais is racist, though it seems to indicate a kind of unsophistication and lack of sensitivity which doesn't create a totally positive impression. (We don't have a word that means "non-Caucasian"-if we did, when would we use it and why?)

For me racism has to be an intentional desire to denigrate, on the basis of a belief that the people you are referring to are racially inferior.

Edited November 5, 2013 by partington

[transam]

Farang , simply means foriegner, that is no racist term in itself, but the manner and tone in which it is used can be offensive, in my opinion. To use and old phrase, its not what you say its the way you say it.

This is a good answer - according to many sources, the word Farang is derived from the word Foreigner.. A Farang is anyone from outside Thailand; Lao, Burmese, Japanese, etc. Most Thais misuse the word.

Most touristy places have a 'Farang'; and a Thai (Resident) price. Anyone with a local ID, pays the local (Resident) price - that is the law.

As for when I hear someone casually refer to me as a Farang, I ask 'Where..??' I don't see a Farang... That usually puts them off a bit.

Truth be told, I was here long before most of them were born and I have lived here longer than a few million Thais.

HMMM...??? I wonder how that makes me a 'Foreigner'..??

You will always be a foreigner. Nobody, or very few here, knows your history or cares, mainly cos older farang guys come here to live.

[movsrus]

Who cares what they think or what they say. You give your power away to people you don't know when you let them make you feel bad or inferior. Just think- you are living here for a lot less than what it would take to live in your own country, you can drink beer and eat good food for much less than it would cost at home and for that someone you don't know and don't care about calls you a farang. Who cares? Not me. Call me a farang all you want because it makes no difference to me. The power to make one feel bad is a powerful emotion- don't give it away to people you don't know and don't care about/

For what it's worth. Peace out.

[MAJIC]

Once I was sitting on a songtaew and there were two old ladies sitting opposite me with a large basket of guava. One of the rude old crones kept saying " farang" this and "farang" while sorting through the basket. All of this was within easy earshot of myself and to compound their blatant rudeness they completely ignored me whilst saying "farang" as if I didn't even exist.

Maybe they had some 'farang' fruit in the basket? It looks like an apple.

Reel em in

Sorry bender mate my original post was a piss take of how some westerners hear the word " farang" and start going off in a right old tizzy.

So is that an admission to Troll Posting then?

[mca]

Troll? Moi? Jamais !

[jsflynn603]

Yes, though it's a generalization, most Thais are racist.

They generally like = farang because their skin is lighter than theirs and most Asians think whiter is better.

From my experience they generally dislike = farang dam (black man) because their skin is darker and often perceived as a lower caste)

This appears true of other Asian nations including China and even Philippines. I don't know about Japan.

Op your use of word oriental is considered by some as a racist term. Its use in Europe is common and often not considered racist, while it's use in America is often considered racist. Some may argue the point but recently the state of New York banned the use of the word "oriental" in state documents.

See: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/law-bans-use-of-oriental-in-state-documents/?_r=0

To me racial terms are slurs and meant to convey negativity. I cannot remember a single instance while living in Chiang mai when the word falang seemed to connote any negativity, though clearly some times Thais do use it as a racial slur such as falang kee nok (bird dung foreigner of European origin).

Edited November 5, 2013 by metisdead
Thai language edited out of post. This is an English language forum, English is the only acceptable language, except in the Thai language forum where Thai language is allowed.

[FiftyTwo]

They call me 'guava' and I call them 'green pumpkin'.

That's fair I think!

[Tchooptip]

And as I sit drinking my Cheers beer, the parade of TV folks commenting on this thread has kept me entertained for hours.... keep them coming folks!

And as I sit drinking my Cheers beer, the parade of TV folks commenting on this thread troll has kept me entertained for hours.... keep them coming folks!

Yep, we are waiting for your enlightenment on something. ............... hmmmmmmmmmmm, still waiting............

1 [ no obj. ] fish by trailing a baited line along behind a boat: we trolled for mackerel.

• search for something: a group of companies trolling for partnership opportunities | [ with obj. ] : I spent tonight trolling the Internet for expensive lighting gear.

2 [ with obj. ] sing (something) in a happy and carefree way: troll the ancient Yuletide carol.

3 [ with obj. ] Computing, informal send or submit (a provocative e-mail or Internet posting) with the intention of inciting an angry response.

4 [ no obj., with adverbial of direction ] chiefly Brit.walk; stroll: we all trolled into town.

The definition of troll in the present case being the number 3 IMHO I doubt OP was writing with an intention other than inciting an angry response (towards Thai people) of course I could be wrong

[HeijoshinCool]

Gee. Wonder where Berkshire disappeared to?

[Ubonquest]

Farang , simply means foriegner, that is no racist term in itself, but the manner and tone in which it is used can be offensive, in my opinion. To use and old phrase, its not what you say its the way you say it.

Actually "Farang" is a term describing a "White person, or Caucasian". So regardless of where you are from, if you are Caucasian, you will be called that way. Just like in Western countries, when people see an Asian person, some will call them "Chinese" with their pejorative term, depending on whether you are in the US, Australia, France etc.. BTW, I am not Chinese, but guess what they call me.

[razorramone]

I always translate it as "gringo".

In S.america I had people call me a gringo f***, which was obviously meant to be an insult. But I also had friends who just called me "el gringo", because I was the one European guy they knew, and it was meant affectionately.

Edited November 5, 2013 by razorramone

[nisakiman]

One of the funniest OPs I've read in a long time.

And it sure got 'em going, too! 8 pages!

[MyFriend You]

Farang , simply means foriegner, that is no racist term in itself, but the manner and tone in which it is used can be offensive, in my opinion. To use and old phrase, its not what you say its the way you say it.

I agree but with over 30 years associated with Thailand, I can attest that it has turned into racists slang Thai word........like Katoey, or the southern pronounciation Kutuh...........I don't like being called 'Falung' anymore than a Thai like being called a Gook, or a slope. My first ten years here I was called 'Ahmedican' because I took the time to learn 'good' Thai, and corrected them - Pom mai dai pen falung, pen Amedican" it took and I was never called Falung to my face by people that knew me again in my Village - Pattaya!!! All it takes is for you to take the first step, learn a little Thai and correct them with politeness.

[louse1953]

U don't belong here,go back to Medico.

[louse1953]

What a waste of time answering this Farang at all.

But u did.Time is something we have to spare.

[louse1953]

Once I was sitting on a songtaew and there were two old ladies sitting opposite me with a large basket of guava. One of the rude old crones kept saying " farang" this and "farang" that while sorting through the basket. All of this was within easy earshot of myself and to compound their blatant rudeness they completely ignored me whilst saying "farang" as if I didn't even exist.

I have almost the same thing ... two old ladies with a basket of small pumpkins - Jeez should have heard their language!

I was on that very same songtaew,and when the old biddys mentioned man farang,I thought they where talking about me,bettet than being called keeniow.

[rinteln]

My hatred of the word is more to do with the bigger picture which is that of the general laziness to seek out new information, to learn, to be scpetical and ambitious. The modern usage of the word farang, in my opinion is a sign of bad education, bad geographical knowledge and a sign of general laziness to actually identify people by means other than just what they look like. I dont get annoyed when called it because i see it as a bigger problem for them than me but it would be good for them to get rid of it.

You are clueless beyond words. And you're clearly wrong because it's obviously a bigger problem for you than them. "Farang" is just a descriptive word and used in exactly the same way that Americans use the words "Asian" and "Hispanic" to describe a great many nationalities. The Thais could care less what you think about how THEY use THEIR language. I tend to agree with them. Which means your opinion amounts to about zero.

"Which means your opinion amounts to about zero."

This was my favourite bit. Concluding that your opinion made mine void just by you having an opinion........love it !!

[Thaddeus]

never mind if they call you farang. smile to them and show your white teeth

Bit of a problem there if you come from the UK and have been a smoker for most of your life, but if the person calling you that has red teeth and no gums....... call it a draw.

[burlap]

Farang, is seldom used as ab insult. They like white skin, blue eyes, long noses, & fat wallets!

[HerbalEd]

Troll post.

[socksy01]

'Farrang' get's me pissed off.

I know that most Thai people wouldn't understand but what would the reaction to 'gook' 'slope' 'wok-head' 'slant-eye' be?

All derrogatory terms for people from parts of Asia.

[soundman]

Wow, your Thai language skills must have blown them away!

Just what i was thinking, along with what a rather amusing troll post pretty much using the "best of Thai Visa" as the basis.

Anyway, from my experience, the meaning a speaker is conveying with the word "farang" is all in the context and intonation.

Maybe merely a statement, a benign description, or a racist insult; all dependant on the context of the speech and/or the tone of the speaker.

[maxme]

Sigh, feels like TV does same as Hollywood, only pop out remakes. Farang can be used for both good and bad, to say it hasn´t probably depends on your circles but alo your experience. In my experience most of the time Thais use it as an identifier. They don´t think that far as many here do, in many of the cases it´s quite innocent.

This however doesn´t mean that there aren't those who use it talk down about foreigners, for example where did the "farang khee nok" come from?

However some of the TV shouldn't scream bloody murder either as many here like to refer to their partners as the "Thai wife" or "my Thai girlfriend" instead of just saying what they are... Wife or girlfriend. Many here need to identify them as Thai despite they live in Thailand which I find rather amusing.

My wife could be Western, African, Asian and it wouldn´t matter coz I would still refer her to as my wife.

[goltec]

You said I no falang, can not can not.

Well said falang!

that will give them something to thing about:

"what is that Farang talking about?"

that means....

If you were lucky enough to pronounce it right.

You might even have said: " Hair wood Farang, wood can new can"!

the boys must have thought that you were a very confused person.

Edited November 6, 2013 by goltec