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

[HeijoshinCool]

I never associate with people who utter the term. You can feel the spite coming from them.

I have never had someone come up and address me directly with it (which says a lot about how it's used).

"Hi Falang, How are you?"

Pretty easy to gauge the deragatory nature of the term. If you get a woman who uses the term with you, or with other Thai's I would advise you to examine carefully whether she is right for you.

Come to think of it, you're right.

I've only ever heard it used as a third-person pronoun, as in he, she, or mun, er, I mean, it.

[snake24]

How dare the OP call thais asians that's racist.

[A1Str8]

Yes they are racist. No the term farang is not racist.

[Ulysses G.]

Pretty easy to gauge the deragatory nature of the term.

[thatswhatuthought]

Please do tell. Where can I buy bottles of Cheers beer?

[transam]

So OP, your dressed like a tramp, sitting on the curb with a pint bottle of beer in your gob, with spares at your side and you are wondering why perhaps locals might be calling you a ______e farang. Weeeell, if l saw you l might have similar thoughts.

[thatswhatuthought]

Stradavarius37

"I am very respectful of the local cultures and traditions."

Lying must be one of them.

[Prbkk]

Farang, alien, gringo, bule, auslander, gweilo, ang mo, gaijin, laowai, .....same, same . Context is everything

[orpheus454]

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.

This is just plain silly.

They were probably just discussing which of the guavas they were going to give to their Norwegian next door neighbor...!

[thatswhatuthought]

I never associate with people who utter the term. You can feel the spite coming from them.

I have never had someone come up and address me directly with it (which says a lot about how it's used).

"Hi Falang, How are you?"

Pretty easy to gauge the deragatory nature of the term. If you get a woman who uses the term with you, or with other Thai's I would advise you to examine carefully whether she is right for you.

Come to think of it, you're right.

I've only ever heard it used as a third-person pronoun, as in he, she, or mun, er, I mean, it.

Funny you say that because I have had many thai friends greet me with "Sawadee kop farang."

It was used by them in a humorous way as all around knew I didn't like the word. Everyone around has always found it quit funny, including myself. I usually reply with "Sawadee kop con dam." Or "Sawadee kop con Lao/Pahmah/Kahmain."

[Totster]

I never associate with people who utter the term. You can feel the spite coming from them.

I have never had someone come up and address me directly with it (which says a lot about how it's used).

"Hi Falang, How are you?"

Pretty easy to gauge the deragatory nature of the term. If you get a woman who uses the term with you, or with other Thai's I would advise you to examine carefully whether she is right for you.

Come to think of it, you're right.

I've only ever heard it used as a third-person pronoun, as in he, she, or mun, er, I mean, it.

Funny you say that because I have had many thai friends greet me with "Sawadee kop farang."

It was used by them in a humorous way as all around knew I didn't like the word. Everyone around has always found it quit funny, including myself. I usually reply with "Sawadee kop con dam." Or "Sawadee kop con Lao/Pahmah/Kahmain."

Hilarious !

totster

[rinteln]

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.

"Farang , simply means foriegner"...........No it does not and nor is it used in that manner in every day usage. Really wish Expats would stop letting these Thais off the hook so easily by saying "it means foreigner" . If it only meant foreigner then why do they not call people from Loas, Cambodia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan (need i go on) foreigners ?!! They dont call them foreigners, in fact I think you have to go quite far geographically before they start using the generic term farang instead of individual terms.

Sorry but neither by definition or common usage does Farang mean foreigner. Mainly this word is used as a gerneic term for caucasian people or of European decent which back then probably meant the same thing.

I dont think the the definition or its original usage is racist but the way in which its used today is considering how easily information and knowledge can be obtained. I dont think its an intentional racism or used in a bad way, I think its more out of ignorance combined with lack of worldly and geographical knowledge. Japanese, Chinese, Laotion, Cambodian etc all look similar to them so they can relate and have individual names for them. For us, whether someone is from Iceland, France, UK or Austria they all look the same to Thais and totally different from them. The average person here wont know many countries outside of Asia other than probably UK, US or whereever their BF or family member's boyfreind/husband comes from and so basically anyone white can be lumped into one group. That group is "Farang"

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.

Edited November 4, 2013 by rinteln

[Jackson86]

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.

"Farang , simply means foriegner"...........No it does not and nor is it used in that manner in every day usage. Really wish Expats would stop letting these Thais off the hook so easily by saying "it means foreigner" . If it only meant foreigner then why do they not call people from Loas, Cambodia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan (need i go on) foreigners ?!! They dont call them foreigners, in fact I think you have to go quite far geographically before they start using the generic term farang instead of individual terms...

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

[rinteln]

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.

"Farang , simply means foriegner"...........No it does not and nor is it used in that manner in every day usage. Really wish Expats would stop letting these Thais off the hook so easily by saying "it means foreigner" . If it only meant foreigner then why do they not call people from Loas, Cambodia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan (need i go on) foreigners ?!! They dont call them foreigners, in fact I think you have to go quite far geographically before they start using the generic term farang instead of individual terms...

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

Exactly and thanks for the perfect example. When actually if Farang truly meant foreigner then they should be calling you a farang. But they dont because I assume you look similar to them, or at least alot more than I do.

[kevozman1]

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.

"Farang , simply means foriegner"...........No it does not and nor is it used in that manner in every day usage. Really wish Expats would stop letting these Thais off the hook so easily by saying "it means foreigner" . If it only meant foreigner then why do they not call people from Loas, Cambodia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan (need i go on) foreigners ?!! They dont call them foreigners, in fact I think you have to go quite far geographically before they start using the generic term farang instead of individual terms...

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

[Jackson86]

Exactly and thanks for the perfect example. When actually if Farang truly meant foreigner then they should be calling you a farang. But they dont because I assume you look similar to them, or at least alot more than I do.

Yeah i think so too. Although I don't know their language but somehow they seem more friendly to me as in they tend to take initiative to talk to me. In terms of culture and food, I'm somewhat similar to them as well.

[Jackson86]

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

For example, I went to a bar in bangkok and the Thai girls there prefer to serve me rather than other farangs.

[Thaddeus]

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

For example, I went to a bar in bangkok and the Thai girls there prefer to serve me rather than other farangs.

Was this after you had made it known that you were from Singapore, I'm shocked.

Have you only done this in one bar in Bangkok? bit of a small sample, but an unsurprising result.

[kevozman1]

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

For example, I went to a bar in bangkok and the Thai girls there prefer to serve me rather than other farangs.

yes, bar girls are good at telling people what they think they want to hear.

[Forethat]

Funny you say that because I have had many thai friends greet me with "Sawadee kop farang."

It was used by them in a humorous way as all around knew I didn't like the word. Everyone around has always found it quit funny, including myself. I usually reply with "Sawadee kop con dam." Or "Sawadee kop con Lao/Pahmah/Kahmain."

They greet you "Hello frog farang"...?

It IS an insult after all?

[Forethat]

I'm still trying to get over being called Mun by the FIL for the last 25 years, I'll take farang anyday of the week.

If he'd called you Mạn it would have even worse.

[JLCrab]

I actually find the word 'farang' quite convenient when used in the context of:

Well what did you expect -- I'm just some d-mn farang?

[MAJIC]

If my memory serves me well,this must be at least the third time this Topic Title has resurfaced since the start of this year! If you can get this over as quickly as possible,we might be able to squeeze in another same Topic by Christmas,should fit in nicely with the Xmas tree,and imported Turkey!

PS you are only a Farang if you don't mind Racialism and Labels.

Edited November 4, 2013 by MAJIC

[JoeThePoster]

You can call me farang anytime, but nobody calls me blah blah blah and gets away with it.

[mca]

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.

This is just plain silly.

They were probably just discussing which of the guavas they were going to give to their Norwegian next door neighbor...!

Mildly disappointed that you were the only one to bite mate.

[Stradavarius37]

Can't find my crocs this morning - guess it will have to be a sandals with black socks and shorts day...Off to get my bottles of Cheers!

Edited November 5, 2013 by Stradavarius37

[SpokaneAl]

I am currently reading The Kill List, which is the latest work of fiction by detail orientated author Frederick Forsyth. In it some US soldiers fly into a mountain outpost in Afganistan where the local tribe refers to them as farangi - which, according to the author, means white foreigner.

Not sure that has much bearing on this current thread, but I did find it interesting.

Edited November 5, 2013 by SpokaneAl

[thailiketoo]

Below is my photo. Sometimes people call me a Farengi.

[roamer]

If my memory serves me well,this must be at least the third time this Topic Title has resurfaced since the start of this year! If you can get this over as quickly as possible,we might be able to squeeze in another same Topic by Christmas,should fit in nicely with the Xmas tree,and imported Turkey!

PS you are only a Farang if you don't mind Racialism and Labels.

Majic, you can do the keyboard work but I think your wrong, surely more than 3 times this year ?

As a Korean friend said to me, you have it easy, I'm always the "khohn yipun" (Japanese Person)..... maybe we should be glad of this collective term, could be a lot worse if Thai's decided we were American instead of Canadian, English instead of Irish etc.

Edited November 5, 2013 by roamer

[asdecas]

The latest in a never-ending stream of foreign visitors to Thailand who imagine they have invented the wheel.