What does being called a Farang mean to you? Good or bad?

[bgrassboy]

Thought about making a T-shirt with the following: "Stop calling me guava!"

Just a random musing in light of the "Thainess" thread.

[Jangot]

Grief...not again.....

[ultimate weapon]

i wonder if the blacks had shirts that said stop calling me nigger.

[CharlieH]

See my avatar !

[Sceptict11]

Not again !

Clearly the OP is bored or a Troll

[HeavyDrinker]

Oh, Please.....how about an ''I'm having trouble with my educated high class Thai/Chinese GF and her high ranking military family'' post just for something different....?

[bgrassboy]

To whom it is that has the power, please close this thread! I didn't mean to offend. This is not a troll post. Sorry that this has been brought up again in the forum.

[Jingthing]

Grief...not again.....

and again and again and again because it's a real thing and the word is not the innocent descriptor that some people think ...

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ultimate weapon]

It's really funny that the thai word for a white and a guava are the same ROFL!!!!!!

[transam]

I suspect the OP is very cold in Alaska eh..........

[LaraC]

The Thaivisa rules should be amended that certain topics will result in a "holiday", the farang one being top of the list.

But anyway..in answer. I do not take offense to the word farang. I take offense to how it may be used or implied. I also confess to taking offense if it is used when i have addressed someone (when i have been conversing in Thai. Ie: i go into a shop and ask for something, and they go talk to someone else in the shop and tell them its for the farang. Particularly if i am the only person in the shop. As they could quite easily say for that lady, rather than farang. But its Thailand..its common..so i just grit my teeth and bare it).

[saakura]

This topic should be banned!!!!

[Spoonman]

It's really funny that the thai word for a white and a guava are the same ROFL!!!!!!

Really, the word Farang is Thai for white...... since when ?

[Thai at Heart]

Depends who when and where.

[i claudius]

Couldnt care less ,

[bgrassboy]

I suspect the OP is very cold in Alaska eh..........

Never been to Alaska, but it has been rather cool here in BKK.

[Jack Mountain]

I prefer Farlang above Joe, Deng, Lek, Uan, yankee, chocolate etc etc

[RikDao]

I like being called farang, it sounds nice to my ears. Now, if I were still in high school, it might bother me a little, because I would be insecure.

JUST KIDDING!!! I hate being called that, it's so unfair, what am I, some sort of animal? Don't they know my father used to call me that? And if I said anything back, he'd spank me while my mother watched helplessly? My life has been made miserable by THAT ONE WORD! Do you understand now? That's why I came to Thailand in the first place, so I could surround myself with other sensitive souls who understand how I've felt MY WHOLE LIFE!!! I know how gay people feel when people call them f%#@&ts! Life's so unfair!!!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[celso]

The same as when a Thai goes to England and everyone calls them Chinese: somewhat ignorant but who really cares.

Anyway, it is a Thai word. It doesn't matter what it means to us, the meaning is decided by Thai speakers.

Edited January 19, 2014 by celso

[Sayonarax]

LOL, love all the whiners.. oh not this thread again.

No, i don't appreciate being called farang. Its reminds of the Japanese word Gaijin.

I dont say "Hay, Thai Lady"

[marko kok prong]

better falang /boxida, than man,or darkling.

[wym]

Yes is it an innocent descriptor of race, equivalent in every way to "caucasian", which is used by police and officialdom every day in farangland.

If you associate with disrespectful people in geographic areas and industries that make their living catering to foreigners, especially those in the business of scamming them, you may well hear people use the term with tones and facial expression implying contempt.

Just like angry poor people will use "rich folk" as a pejorative.

However both from a pure linguistic POV and 99.99% of the time in Thailand, it is used meaning no disrespect at all.

Note that Thais often use such "objectifying" labels rather than names when talking about people, even in their presence and in some cases when addressing them directly - we are all familiar with "pi" and "nong", "uncle" "fat guy", "old guy" etc used in place of names.

Again this is a feature of the Thai grammar, not an indicator of disrespect. If your family members referring to you as "the farang" in their conversations bothers you, politely ask them to use their name instead. They will think you're weird, but this is only one of hundreds of ways we're weird and they're used to us being weird, but if you remind them a gazillion times, those that are invested in your not getting irritated at them may well comply with your weird wishes.

Then we come to the topic of racism. Some people feel that there shouldn't be ANY acknowledgement of race in day-to-day conversations. Well, sorry Thais are very racist as a culture, not much can be done about that. In the case of us honkeys however, we BENEFIT from that racism much more than suffer from it, often being accorded a much higher class/status than we should get in reality. Petty overcharging issues certainly pale in comparison to the general contempt offered to African/middle-Eastern/Indian people here, so stop whingeing and suck it up, that's not RACISM. Plus most of us being males are also taking advantage of their ingrained patriarchal patterns, so stop whingeing and suck it up!

Guava were apparently brought to Thailand by European traders in the 16th-17th centuries, most likely the Portuguese, so just like we call little oranges "mandarins", Thais named the fruit after us, not vice-versa.

The word itself is most likely derived from the Franks, who dominated Europe from the 6th century on - you've probably heard of Charlemagne? This of course is not equivalent to "French", but definitely related, there was no "French" language or nation until many centuries later, long after the Franks were involved in conquest and crusades stretching into the territories where Pali and Sanskrit developed, and many many languages in the regions between there and here use this word to label white people of European descent.

Of course all this is just scholarly opinion and theory, no one really knows.

But it remains a fact that linguistically the word "farang" is in itself not pejorative, any more than the word "prostitute" is. Some people may dislike the class of people labeled with the term and therefore they USE it pejoratively, but the word itself has no such meaning, the emotional connotations must be inferred by context.

[Jip99]

Yes is it an innocent descriptor of race, equivalent in every way to "caucasian", which is used by police and officialdom every day in farangland.

If you associate with disrespectful people in geographic areas and industries that make their living catering to foreigners, especially those in the business of scamming them, you may well hear people use the term with tones and facial expression implying contempt.

Just like angry poor people will use "rich folk" as a pejorative.

However both from a pure linguistic POV and 99.99% of the time in Thailand, it is used meaning no disrespect at all.

Note that Thais often use such "objectifying" labels rather than names when talking about people, even in their presence and in some cases when addressing them directly - we are all familiar with "pi" and "nong", "uncle" "fat guy", "old guy" etc used in place of names.

Again this is a feature of the Thai grammar, not an indicator of disrespect. If your family members referring to you as "the farang" in their conversations bothers you, politely ask them to use their name instead. They will think you're weird, but this is only one of hundreds of ways we're weird and they're used to us being weird, but if you remind them a gazillion times, those that are invested in your not getting irritated at them may well comply with your weird wishes.

Then we come to the topic of racism. Some people feel that there shouldn't be ANY acknowledgement of race in day-to-day conversations. Well, sorry Thais are very racist as a culture, not much can be done about that. In the case of us honkeys however, we BENEFIT from that racism much more than suffer from it, often being accorded a much higher class/status than we should get in reality. Petty overcharging issues certainly pale in comparison to the general contempt offered to African/middle-Eastern/Indian people here, so stop whingeing and suck it up, that's not RACISM. Plus most of us being males are also taking advantage of their ingrained patriarchal patterns, so stop whingeing and suck it up!

Guava were apparently brought to Thailand by European traders in the 16th-17th centuries, most likely the Portuguese, so just like we call little oranges "mandarins", Thais named the fruit after us, not vice-versa.

The word itself is most likely derived from the Franks, who dominated Europe from the 6th century on - you've probably heard of Charlemagne? This of course is not equivalent to "French", but definitely related, there was no "French" language or nation until many centuries later, long after the Franks were involved in conquest and crusades stretching into the territories where Pali and Sanskrit developed, and many many languages in the regions between there and here use this word to label white people of European descent.

Of course all this is just scholarly opinion and theory, no one really knows.

But it remains a fact that linguistically the word "farang" is in itself not pejorative, any more than the word "prostitute" is. Some people may dislike the class of people labeled with the term and therefore they USE it pejoratively, but the word itself has no such meaning, the emotional connotations must be inferred by context.

I agree 100%.

One issue is the western idiom in believing that judgement rests with the receiver - if it is offensive to the recipient, then it is offensive.

I certainly do not find "Farang" offensive - maybe I should be grateful that I cannot be referred to as "chocolate man".

[wym]

Taking offense is more offensive than giving it.

[thailiketoo]

Grief...not again.....

and again and again and again because it's a real thing and the word is not the innocent descriptor that some people think ...

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

A lot better than being called a sewer or Shi** box or what was it, septic tank. Ya that was it. I'll take Farang any day.

Sarcasm alert.

Edited January 19, 2014 by thailiketoo

[thailiketoo]

I agree 100%.

One issue is the western idiom in believing that judgement rests with the receiver - if it is offensive to the recipient, then it is offensive.

I certainly do not find "Farang" offensive - maybe I should be grateful that I cannot be referred to as "chocolate man".

I agree but find chocolate man far better than Septic Tank. Can you imagine there are parts of the world where residents of a country are referred to as Septic Tanks! Thank goodness Thailand has better manners. Farang is so not bad when compared to a depository for human waste.

Sarcasm alert!

Edited January 19, 2014 by thailiketoo

[Dancealot]

Taking offense is more offensive than giving it.

I said that after I called a Thai person "Farang" while staying in Europe.

This didn't help...

[jkinbkk]

If Thai people know my name but still refer to me as 'Farang' when introducing me to other Thais, well I take exception to that and in no uncertain terms tell them in front of their friend what's what's!

But as a general label i don't mind it.

Anyway, better than being referred to as Kwai Lo ("white devil" - A derogatory term used by Chinese to address caucasians) as is my experience when I lived in Malaysia.

[thailiketoo]

There is an official Thai Visa definition of Farang. http://www.thaivisa.com/558-0.html "Even if you can speak no other words of Thai, most European and American visitors to Thailand will quickly become familiar with the Thai word farang (often mispronounced (even by Thais) as falang.

Some people get very offended at being called farang, but whether it's an insult should or not really depends on the context. A few Thais who are uncomfortable with using it will say kon dtahng bpra-tayt ('people from other countries') instead, but this is still pretty rare. Farang is basically a neutral word, but people who respect you (or who should respect you) will not use it – if you hear a work colleague, for example, refer to you as farang they probably mean it as an insult while a taxi driver or market vendor doing the same is unlikely to mean any offense at all."

End of quote.

Why couldn't all the questions or comments on the word Farang be referred to the Thai Visa official definition instead of all the nuts coming out of the woodwork with new and different definitions of a word that is simple to define and has been defined by Thai Visa.

[Jingthing]

So Thaivisa is in the dictionary business as well? Sorry the word is always going to controversial, it's never going to be 100% neutral and as such it's fair game for discussion.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app