Thailand's 'F' word: Offensive or harmless?

[Rayk]

I would much rather be called a "farang" by a Thai, than be called a Thai by anyone.

[KenKadz]

It is all *mind* over matter*.

I don't mind, so it don't matter!

[kennypowers]

The reality is that most Thais have no idea of any connotation other than a white/European-looking person. It's a simplistic way of identifying one person's origin from another's, which is absolutely in line with the way Thai society is structured. Thais tend to label things without the restriction of political correctness and say what they see.

Do I like it? It depends on the context and whether the person is deliberately being rude. They have been a few times where I have asked to be referred to as "Chao dan prateet", like when being talked about in the third person by someone I'm not fond of, but other than that, in the bigger picture of things, the word is a small tolerance in what is always largely a positive existence for me here.

The majority of Thais using this word mean no harm, and most would struggle to understand why you'd be upset by it. People will use your name, if you tell them your name.

Not all Thais are racist either; this is absolute rubbish. This is just a word they grow up with and most have never had to, and never will, question its political correctness - and perhaps luckily so.

To be honest, if I get to the point where the word 'farang' makes me really upset, I'll see that as a good indicator that I should go home. After all, wasn't it this very word that played a big part in your decision to live here? Being that "farang" that everyone was interested in and wanted to talk to? Unlike back home where the older you become the more society shuts you out and treats you like an irrelevant burden.

[nikmar]

I got called a racist by some red faced, teary eyed student type in the UK once for referring to migrants as "these people".

Would we prefer Thailand to become as PC as it has in the west.

Personally, I've got bigger things to worry about than what some folk call me.

[HooHaa]

many asian people who are not thai and who cannot speak thai are allowed to enter thailand. on one occasion i visited a restaurant in thailand with a khmer lady. the thai waitress adressed the khmer lady in thai which she could not understand and i had to translate for her.

umm ... thanks for sharing.

[HooHaa]

'Farang' is not mostly regrettable because it offends the object of its use - the FOREIGNER (or Non-Asian). More importantly it is a clear sign of Thailand's astonishing isolation from the rest of the world. It represents the 'Us' and 'Them' structure of thought which is the Thais' lazy way of dealing with the human race en mass. Lumping every 'outsider' together under one easy label is atrocious. Thais have managed to stay mostly apart from huge global forces in the twentieth century - colonisation, world wars - and they are some of the most insular people on the planet. Basically, they cannot be arsed to divide foreign guests in Thailand into 'English', 'French', 'Australian', 'German', 'American' etc...so much easier and more controlling to carry on using the one-word stereotype : Farang. Concentrating on whether or not the term is offensive to outsiders misses this more important point, that it is a symptom of Thailand's failure to engage with modern culture, politics, and debate.

im sorry, if you want to see examples of an us/them mentality just peruse the pages of thaivisa.

Posters here have made the word thai itself derogatory.

[1FinickyOne]

However - it is now Songkran and there will be out of country visitors... My wife holds no prejudice - but if she sees a caucasian roaming the village, she might report back to me that a "farang" is in the village... If speaking English, she surely doesn't know the word "caucasian" or even "Westerner" - nor do I know an appropriate way to make the distinction in Thai w/o getting very wordy..

She may not be racist, but she sure as hell is ignorant.

Assuming all white folk speak English and share a culture?

Why not assume all foreigners speak Spanish, that language is nearly as widely used in the world as English.

Do we assume all slopes Asians speak Thai?

If you were living in the UK, would you point out to your wife all her fellow brown people?

Of course not, but then we aren't ignorant racists.

Well, thank you for judging my wife to be ignorant if you don't even know her - nowhere did I say that she thinks all white folk share a culture and speak English. Those are your words only and it is rather silly to attest them to my wife. where do you get this from?

It would be like me saying that someone is a drunk and stupid - if I have never met or seen you or know anything about them.

My wife does not point them out for reason of racism, she knows I enjoy visiting with other "farang" who come to the village. You are taking a word in an obviously foreign to you language and applying a meaning to it... I am offering an alternative meaning that is not offensive, and based on the usage that I hear when speaking Thai with Thai people.

If you can extrapolate that out into insulting my wife - - on a forum - well bully for you, I guess. Good way to get your kicks.

[Guest]

What is evenmore "........." is the fact that foreigners refer to themselves as...farang....

It must be a forumthing because all my years coming/living in Thailand I have never heard it. Thank god !

That

Is

Impossible.

Even if you are Green, and have three eyes .. it is impossible to never had heard that term.

[hawker9000]

Back in the day I think it was probably more "neutral" in tone. But today's Thais have been indoctrinated to utter it with disdain & disrespect, though I doubt that most Thais will disclose that to you, even if (or perhaps especially if) they're your friend, or even your spouse! Those who think it's all in the context are living in a dream world.

[Sawan Chan 7]

It is offensive. Thais always say farang "mun" .....

This is not only offensive but derogatory and very rude.

Anyone who thinks farang kids not rude can't speak Thai.

[Sawan Chan 7]

Back in the day I think it was probably more "neutral" in tone. But today's Thais have been indoctrinated to utter it with disdain & disrespect, though I doubt that most Thais will disclose that to you, even if (or perhaps especially if) they're your friend, or even your spouse! Those who think it's all in the context are living in a dream world.

That's true, 30 years ago it was pretty neural. Do was the term "kaek" used did Indians which is now offensive. Similarly, 50 years ago the word "jek" for Chinese was used but is never used now, unless one calls me farang!

Any word used to describe a race Will by definition eventually become racist.

[Jay1]

I got called a racist by some red faced, teary eyed student type in the UK once for referring to migrants as "these people".

Would we prefer Thailand to become as PC as it has in the west.

Personally, I've got bigger things to worry about than what some folk call me.

You've actually made a damn good point!

Id rather have a beer with someone who refers to me as a farang than a left-wing moron who would call me a racist if I ordered a White Russian

[dick dasterdly]

When a small child suddenly shouts 'farang!' whilst pointing at me (and I live in Phuket - we're hardly rare...) I find it a little rude. The parents invariably pull down the child's hand, but in an amused, indulgent way - so nothing is going to change soon !

More annoyingly, a husband and wife team who have done various jobs around the house for me - and know my name - were talking to each other and referred to me as 'farang' during their conversation. That is just downright rude according to the way I've been brought up, but Thais are brought up differently.

Even though I dislike the lazy/rude/xenophobic/un-educated (take your pick) term 'farang', getting bad-tempered about it is only going to confirm the user's belief about us Westerners - and its certainly not going to change anything!

[dick dasterdly]

I got called a racist by some red faced, teary eyed student type in the UK once for referring to migrants as "these people".

Would we prefer Thailand to become as PC as it has in the west.

Personally, I've got bigger things to worry about than what some folk call me.

You've actually made a damn good point!

Id rather have a beer with someone who refers to me as a farang than a left-wing moron who would call me a racist if I ordered a White Russian

Get over yourself - has any "left-wing moron" ever called you a racist for ordering a White Russian?

[Veritas48]

I believe "farang" is the Thai for "guava"which is a small fruit with white flesh.In that context the word "Asian" doesn't quite convey the same thing.Perhaps "coconut" might be better but I don't think the Thais would be too impressed!

[Jay1]

I got called a racist by some red faced, teary eyed student type in the UK once for referring to migrants as "these people".

Would we prefer Thailand to become as PC as it has in the west.

Personally, I've got bigger things to worry about than what some folk call me.

You've actually made a damn good point!

Id rather have a beer with someone who refers to me as a farang than a left-wing moron who would call me a racist if I ordered a White Russian

Get over yourself - has any "left-wing moron" ever called you a racist for ordering a White Russian?

Do you take everything literally?

[Baerboxer]

To sums it all up whether it is offensive or not would be to conclude that it all to do with the context in

which the word is spoken, with disdain or just a way to refer to a foreigner....

Try some other words - Nigger, Yid, Paki, <deleted>, Paddy, Geek, Nip, Chink, Dago, Wop, etc etc

Now - do you think that you really need to know the context to realize that those words are offensive to many if not all the people that they used to describe?

The fact Thais use this everyday and might "not mean" any real offense is immaterial. The word itself carries a stigma regardless of the context.

[SoiBiker]

To sums it all up whether it is offensive or not would be to conclude that it all to do with the context in

which the word is spoken, with disdain or just a way to refer to a foreigner....

Try some other words - Nigger, Yid, Paki, <deleted>, Paddy, Geek, Nip, Chink, Dago, Wop, etc etc

Now - do you think that you really need to know the context to realize that those words are offensive to many if not all the people that they used to describe?

The fact Thais use this everyday and might "not mean" any real offense is immaterial. The word itself carries a stigma regardless of the context.

Try some other words - White, asian, black, european, african etc.

Do you really think that any word used to describe someone's race or where they are from is automatically offensive? Do you not understand what's different about the words you listed?

[villagefarang]

I am not sure I like western sensibilities constraining the way Thais use language. I found it kind of cute and refreshing that they saw nothing wrong with Darkie Toothpaste in the old days. Why burden them with all our hangups and phobias?

As for the F-word that is Mr. VillageFarang to you lot.

Edited April 11, 2016 by villagefarang

[bangon04]

Well I have no problems with it , in my home city we used to call some Asian people for "the Chinese guys" , because we didn't knew their names . We are the white people for them or at least most of us are, so for me its not offensive at all. If they learn my name they will stop saying farang whien talking to me or my freinds. If not they will hear it.

So that racism in it self Chinese guys what a joke you talk like that say something.

Could you no say MR if you not know they name .

People getting upset about "Farang" as in "What did the Farang want?"

Do the same people get upset about "GwaiLo" in Hong Kong, or GaiJin in Tokyo??

Asian societies do not have the self-important PC do-gooders to police their every word as we do in the west.

Yes it is a derogatory term simply because it was born out of a sense of superiority and general xenophobia in the past.

Whereas the western thought police have done a quite thorough job of making such language unacceptable , the Asians have not found it an issue.

It is still a mildly derogatory word, and as a poster previously pointed out - even a "luk kreung" will not be as good as a "real" Thai.

But it is out of ignorance more often than malice. Better to pity them......they are only Thai and they do not know any better.

[Social Media]

Doesnt bother me in the slightest, but as with many words, it depends on the "tone" and expression that goes with it.

[JeffreyO]

To be honest, I found this immensely infuriating when I first moved here but learned to accept it. That being siad, that doesn't make something 'okay'.

The word "nigger" was used for a long time and was accepted int eh US but has since been found to be offensive by its meaning and while these are not comparative, "farang" does have certain connotations with it as well.

[Jonmarleesco]

'How would a Thai person visiting or living in the West like to be referred to as ‘the Thai’, or even ‘the Asian’?' That isn't the issue. The equivalent to farang would be closer to slant-eye, chink, nig-nog, and we all know where use of those would lead, if in the west.

[Shawn0001]

your the sort of falang that would lay down and let people call you anything for a quiet life

when tourists come to the UK we dont generalise them in one catagory, if we dont know them better to say "excuse" me or "sir" or "madam" and not something just to generalise people who either live in the UK or tourists

If you feel offended by such terms, better leave Asia....why even write an article.....

A lot of people in the UK call Asians "Paki's" regardless of where they are from, I am afraid the generalizing thing is found the world over, not that farang is actually derogatory like that racist slur but of course it has this added issue of generalization when referring to someone from Bangladesh.

[rijit]

Irrespective of the way it's used irrespective of it's different 'interpretations. the real crux of the matter is people do find it offensive and in my book that should be enough to stop it being used. And one other point, children should not be brought up with people being categorized by the.colour of their skin, its 100% wrong. .

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[carlyai]

It's not the word itself, it's the tone of the word. Indonesia, China, Japan, Australian Indigenous people, all have collective nouns for us whites.

None of these words when spoken are happy sounding, so 'farang' and all the rest were not initially intended as nice descriptive words.

I think it's a hang over from fudal and hunter a gatherer era.

A collective noun for a group of people doesn't matter much these days.

You know that some of the Australian Indigenous people can only count to two. Then it's 'big mobs'.

So without evidence, I would say it initially was a derogitary term, but now, it depends on the context.

Who cares? I'm a farang in Thailand with a Thai ID card. ☺

[Shawn0001]

'How would a Thai person visiting or living in the West like to be referred to as ‘the Thai’, or even ‘the Asian’?' That isn't the issue. The equivalent to farang would be closer to slant-eye, chink, nig-nog, and we all know where use of those would lead, if in the west.

No, it is not closer to those terms, it is nothing like them at all in fact, it is a term that originated in Persia referring to the Franks, a Germanic tribe, the term has come to refer to all people of European decent. Perhaps you are thinking of Dang Dong which means long nose?

[dazzz]

What is evenmore "........." is the fact that foreigners refer to themselves as...farang....

It must be a forumthing because all my years coming/living in Thailand I have never heard it. Thank god !

Are you telling lies on this forum ? What has god got to do with it? are you crazy ?

I heard it about 20 times yesterday when i was watching a load of thais fishing . I hear it between 5 and 20 times a day and you have not heard it ! Does not bother me but i told off a few thais yesterday for calling me farang as i have lived here for 8 years and if they know my name they should use it . When describing someone i use their name or thai , or farang if they i do not know their name but when i go to the shop where i have shopped everyday for 8 years , if they call me farang i am upset and tell them they are rude and not polite.

Farang has some racial connotations , westerner. Do you also get upset, or at you proud as your flag indicates, when someone calls you by another racial name, Taff.

Iechyd dda

NOT quite the same is it , taff is a welshman and i was called it for 12 years in the army , pommie an englishman , yank an american , thai for a thai man malaysian ,paddy aussie ,etc , farang is the same as negro in as much as it is a general word for white people or black people

In the west we do not have a general derogatory word for all south americans or all europeans or people from the middle east so i am sure thailand does not need one anyway.

If you were in london and seen people from different nationalities on the street , what name would you call them ? what word woul you use . None as they are just people. It is a racist remark which even though does not bother me it is impolite and rude and should not be used in 2559 . It is not nice when walking through a village the kids are all screaming farang farang when you walk passed them.

[kiwikeith]

To sums it all up whether it is offensive or not would be to conclude that it all to do with the context in

which the word is spoken, with disdain or just a way to refer to a foreigner....

Regardless of how it is spoken there is more to it than foreigners tourists as well as residents know about the word and derogatory it is, even with Thais who know the complete word, because the way it is used is the shortened word from the complete word.

When I say: “farang” is not the correct Thai word; it always produces a look:

“What do you know about what is the correct word in Thai regarding foreigner”.

I hereby will explain:

The word “farang” the Thais bastardized from the French word “Francais” which they heard the French speak when the French controlled Indochina and the Thais hated them.

Which word the Thais pronounce as

Fa‑rang‑sed

Which the Thais then shortened to “farang”.

The proper Thai way of identifying a foreigner is

“Khun thangchat”,

Meaning a person of different citizenship.

Thais call Chinese “Khun cheen”,

Japanese “Khun yipoon”.

Persons of Asia are all called by their country of origin.

If a Thai is polite, they call

English people “Khun anglish”,

American people “Khun sahalat”.

However, Thais in their attitude of referring to none Asians as “round eyed white devils"” which saying they shanghaied from the Chinese call all none Asian people derogatorily “farang” in addition to everything they do not know or care about.

From an Atheist point of view:

Thais do not understand that there is only one race,

“THE HUMAN RACE”.

There is only one religion,

“LOVE THE HUMAN RACE”.

Wrong the word originated from the Arabic word Farangi brought in from traders in the 16th century with their wares and then spelt Faranji = meaning westerner.

It does not come from french.

[cumgranosalum]

To sums it all up whether it is offensive or not would be to conclude that it all to do with the context in

which the word is spoken, with disdain or just a way to refer to a foreigner....

Regardless of how it is spoken there is more to it than foreigners tourists as well as residents know about the word and derogatory it is, even with Thais who know the complete word, because the way it is used is the shortened word from the complete word.

When I say: “farang” is not the correct Thai word; it always produces a look:

“What do you know about what is the correct word in Thai regarding foreigner”.

I hereby will explain:

The word “farang” the Thais bastardized from the French word “Francais” which they heard the French speak when the French controlled Indochina and the Thais hated them.

Which word the Thais pronounce as

Fa‑rang‑sed

Which the Thais then shortened to “farang”.

The proper Thai way of identifying a foreigner is

“Khun thangchat”,

Meaning a person of different citizenship.

Thais call Chinese “Khun cheen”,

Japanese “Khun yipoon”.

Persons of Asia are all called by their country of origin.

If a Thai is polite, they call

English people “Khun anglish”,

American people “Khun sahalat”.

However, Thais in their attitude of referring to none Asians as “round eyed white devils"” which saying they shanghaied from the Chinese call all none Asian people derogatorily “farang” in addition to everything they do not know or care about.

From an Atheist point of view:

Thais do not understand that there is only one race,

“THE HUMAN RACE”.

There is only one religion,

“LOVE THE HUMAN RACE”.

Wrong the word originated from the Arabic word Farangi brought in from traders in the 16th century with their wares and then spelt Faranji = meaning westerner.

It does not come from french.

How daft can you get! both words have the same origin!!!