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Farangs?


LudwigVonMises
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inamorato25: I don't know about you, but I was taught to apologize when I do wrong or offended people, is that wrong?

Would it have been better if I said "Oh ok, that's noted, thank you" that too me sounds more ironic than learning, sure I am learning, I learn something new every day, that's what it means about being a humanbeing. We learn!

I'm not really a racist... I've had my fair share of nasty comments thrown at me too you know...

I mean just LOOK at me... I don't look like I came from any Nordic nation do I? NO..

I am half Thai, half Norwegian... and I live in a small town in Norway... almosy "untouched" by other ethnic groups. So I was the first mixed child in this town. And belive me, it was NOT a walk in the park growing up.

I was almost everyday called a "*****" (even tho I am not black, I didn't see this as a bad word, but it was wrong and I heard it alot) and I always was asked "where do you come from?" And whenever a new "victim" at school was choosen I was the main target.... Now that I think about it, I was ALWAYS the target during gradeschool and Jr. High. Only around High school they finally realized: "hey... there ARE other guys living here too... maybe it's not so odd after all" and they left me alone... and then I ment LEFT alone.. I had no friends for about 2-3 years.

So please don't talk to me about hardships, I know all about them... Maybe not to the same extent as the blacks and jews had.. but it was uncomfortable never the less.

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Farang actually comes from the word Ferengi

Ferengi is an Arabic name for European traders, or for Westeners in general. It is also pronounced "Feringhee" and similarly. The name is likely derived from the Arabic word Faranj or Ifranj = "Franks". (In colloquial Italian ferengi means "Yankee Trader".)

The Star Trek usage was taken from the above usage. In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Ferengi are an alien race notable for their devotion towards profit and their constant efforts to swindle people into bad deals.

Thus proving my point :twisted:

I didn't know know that... maybe it is a mix off all these that made the word "farang"?

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I had no friends for about 2-3 years..

Did you ever consider that this may have more to do with your general attitude than your race?

So please don't talk to me about hardships, I know all about them... Maybe not to the same extent as the blacks and jews had.. but it was uncomfortable never the less.

Hmmmm..."uncomfortable"...Yeah, that's how I would compare being different in a small community with years of murder, slavery and oppression. Well put, my son!

As for being different, I'm now a white guy living in a highly racist society. And I see mixed kids growing up in this kind of environment all the time. Some get bullied for it, yes, but no more than Japanese kids who just don't fit it.

People get crapped on, bullied and ignored for all kinds of reasons. So don't justify ignorance with "Well, I had it pretty uncomfortable, too, ya know!"

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I had no friends for about 2-3 years..

Did you ever consider that this may have more to do with your general attitude than your race?

So please don't talk to me about hardships, I know all about them... Maybe not to the same extent as the blacks and jews had.. but it was uncomfortable never the less.

Hmmmm..."uncomfortable"...Yeah, that's how I would compare being different in a small community with years of murder, slavery and oppression. Well put, my son!

As for being different, I'm now a white guy living in a highly racist society. And I see mixed kids growing up in this kind of environment all the time. Some get bullied for it, yes, but no more than Japanese kids who just don't fit it.

People get crapped on, bullied and ignored for all kinds of reasons. So don't justify ignorance with "Well, I had it pretty uncomfortable, too, ya know!"

come on now, I said I couldn't compare againd the hardcore racist but I said it's not plesant.

One of the reason I love Thailand such.... They don't care about anything about that... they live in the present and look at look at a persons heart...

I have only met SOME racist Thais, and it's not whites or blacks they hate...

And yes... I don't live in a "high racist" country... so I don't know how those being picked on feels or go through...

That's why I am apologizing if I said something wrong or hurt someones feelings, is that so wrong?

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Well, we all have it wrong. According to Yahoo (and we know that's always right), Farang is a form of Korean martial art. a.k.a. Modern Farang Mu Sul

SplitScissorsFX%20Red.jpg

5555, funny... well never rule that out ^_^ But in general Thais don't know the origin either, so it can all be true... or not

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Hey Ludwig

As I know that Farang word is use to be a Thai slang to identify the westerner who come to do commerce with country of Siam (Thailand in the old day).

So ?Farang? is a twisted word from the word ?Foreigner?. Thai people couldn?t pronounce it correctly at that time.

From that?.til? now Thai calls the westerner; only white/pink skin and blond or light hair color with big structure body and big nose?, as Fa-rang.

:wink:

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Hey Ludwig

As I know that Farang word is use to be a Thai slang to identify the westerner who come to do commerce with country of Siam (Thailand in the old day).

So ?Farang? is a twisted word from the word ?Foreigner?. Thai people couldn?t pronounce it correctly at that time.

From that?.til? now Thai calls the westerner; only white/pink skin and blond or light hair color with big structure body and big nose?, as Fa-rang.

:wink:

Haha, this is a good one, farang from foreigner. :lol: These derivations do happen when people have no knowledge, or only a smattering of knowledge of the languages they're 'analysing'. But I'm sure you just pull our collective leg, don't you. :lol:

Farang stems from the word Franks (French), but has travelled a long way via Arabian (al-faranj) and Persian (firinghi). Variations of the word have been used in Asia for many centuries. In India, Westerners used to be called feringhi, but during and after British rule the word was largely replaced by angrez (Englishman). In Sri Lanka, the word parangi was used to denote a Portuguese.

With all the trade connections that Siam had during the Ayutthaya period, it's fairly certain that firinghi is the base of farang.

Local variations of the word can be found in Southern Thailand. In most parts farang turns to 'rang; in Phuket, they say pang. :idea: :lol:

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By the way, the words foreign/foreigner hail from Latin foris (outside). This is the same root as for the word forest (an area outside urban/royal rule).

Ok, I can see why some people might think that foreigner becomes farang; they do sound deceptively similar. But in etymology or linguistics things are not always what they seem.

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The Star Trek usage was taken from the above usage. In the Star Trek fictional universe, the Ferengi are an alien race notable for their devotion towards profit and their constant efforts to swindle people into bad deals.

Thus proving my point :twisted:

:shock:

Is this how Thais see Farangs??

Zek.jpg

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one story talks about when there were French soldiers in bkk many years ago, allow to stay by the King. These French were called 'Farangset' (Thai still use this for French). In a similar way 'Ang Mo' was from the mandarin chinese describing foreigners there with red or fair hair,... and cantonese say 'gwalo' for white ghost.. but today these slang terms are still used for all foreigners.

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one story talks about when there were French soldiers in bkk many years ago, allow to stay by the King. These French were called 'Farangset' (Thai still use this for French). In a similar way 'Ang Mo' was from the mandarin chinese describing foreigners there with red or fair hair,... and cantonese say 'gwalo' for white ghost.. but today these slang terms are still used for all foreigners.

Yes i have been called a gweilo many times, usually when trying to push my way past slow walking people who can't walk in a straight line.

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