Farang.

[digitalcat]

Gook was a American GI word used to describe any person as "Asian" appearance by the American GI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gook

Farang is a term used to refer to all people of Caucasian appearance.

I had been called enough racial names in my life to not let it get to me and know when someone is using one as a negative reference.

I know quite a few cats, who much rather not be called that... and I know quite a few Thai's who agree that its has a negative connotation.

Its cute when its a bunch of kids in a small tribal village in a remote northern province... its far from cute when its two took took drivers.

I'm sure its like the term "shorty"... depends who says and how its said.

I retain my position.

[bobbyboy112003]

I don't mind one way or the other really.

What I have always wondered about is where does the "White" people come in? I mean, isn't a black person from say England or Germany etc a Farang too?

Or is there a different term for that?

Yes, a black person from England or Germany a Farang too. We add the word, Dum at the end. They will be Farang Dum. The words are neutral also. Nothing racism in it.

hmm so a black foreigner is either a foreigner or a black foreigner. A white foreigner is just a foreigner?

[LasseDK]

Farang is a neutral word. The word farang? also add after some other word, such as Potatoes = Maan farang, chewing gum = maak farang.

As long as we don?t call you ?Farang kee nok? you shouldn?t be offended.

Greatl ! potatoes and chewing gum - that really makes my male ego rise !

Better than Durian Farang i guess, at least we smell good.

[SweetieBabie]

I don't mind one way or the other really.

What I have always wondered about is where does the "White" people come in? I mean, isn't a black person from say England or Germany etc a Farang too?

Or is there a different term for that?

as the word was probably brought to South and East Asia by Arabain traders, and there initially meant the Portuguese but later came to mean all White people and not just Western Europeans, I don't really think it is a negative expression. As with many words, it is how it is expressed than the actual word itself. From what I have read, in Thai it actually means 'white Europeans', which then raises the question what about white Americans, Aussies, Kiwis etc?

The similarities aross the world in the word used for Whites/White Europeans is startling;

In Arabic it is firinji,

Greek, frangos (meant Franks or Latin Catholics)

Turkish, ifrangi

Syriac, frang

Persian, ferang

Hindi, farenghi

Tamil, farengi

Malayalam, farangi

Cambodian Khmer - barang

Vietnamese - pha-rang

You can almost trace the development of the word from the Crusades on, as Frankish and other Europeans moved East, and as Arabian traders also moved East into Asia.

good explaination... and to add, the Portuguese was the first race began trading with Siam since 500 years ago. therefore the word had been using since.

[CherieAtwood]

As long as they keep treating me so well, I don't mind what Thais call me.

Really?!?! We'll see .... :twisted:

[digitalcat]

I don't mind one way or the other really.

What I have always wondered about is where does the "White" people come in? I mean, isn't a black person from say England or Germany etc a Farang too?

Or is there a different term for that?

as the word was probably brought to South and East Asia by Arabain traders, and there initially meant the Portuguese but later came to mean all White people and not just Western Europeans, I don't really think it is a negative expression. As with many words, it is how it is expressed than the actual word itself. From what I have read, in Thai it actually means 'white Europeans', which then raises the question what about white Americans, Aussies, Kiwis etc?

The similarities aross the world in the word used for Whites/White Europeans is startling;

In Arabic it is firinji,

Greek, frangos (meant Franks or Latin Catholics)

Turkish, ifrangi

Syriac, frang

Persian, ferang

Hindi, farenghi

Tamil, farengi

Malayalam, farangi

Cambodian Khmer - barang

Vietnamese - pha-rang

You can almost trace the development of the word from the Crusades on, as Frankish and other Europeans moved East, and as Arabian traders also moved East into Asia.

good explaination... and to add, the Portuguese was the first race began trading with Siam since 500 years ago. therefore the word had been using since.

The history of the word doesnt justify its current use. The word NIGER

is a descendant of the Latin adjective niger, meaning "black"

Oh how culturally it has changed.

So if you moved to USA and all white men referred to you as a gook, or some other term that kinda grouped you with all the other SE Asian nations... it wouldn't annoy you a notch?

To make it the most rudimentary... its depersonalizing. You are clumped into a giant white mess along with the good, the bad and the ugly. I would like to share the same privilege as some of the other cultures, and be grouped with a country... or at least a continent.

[pandorea]

Farang is a neutral word. The word farang? also add after some other word, such as Potatoes = Maan farang, chewing gum = maak farang.

As long as we don?t call you ?Farang kee nok? you shouldn?t be offended.

Greatl ! potatoes and chewing gum - that really makes my male ego rise !

Better than Durian Farang i guess, at least we smell good.

Durian can't be Durian farang because it's somewhat a tradition Thai fruit. Potatoes are not. As SweetieBabies comment, the Portuguese came to Thailand (I would say approx 400 years ago, Babie) and began trading. They brought along their food with them, and potatoes were one of their tradition food. We didn't know what to call that darn potato, but we have something similar and it calls "maan". So we added farang at the end.

Does this make any sense?

[pandorea]

I don't mind one way or the other really.

What I have always wondered about is where does the "White" people come in? I mean, isn't a black person from say England or Germany etc a Farang too?

Or is there a different term for that?

Yes, a black person from England or Germany a Farang too. We add the word, Dum at the end. They will be Farang Dum. The words are neutral also. Nothing racism in it.

hmm so a black foreigner is either a foreigner or a black foreigner. A white foreigner is just a foreigner?

You got it, Bobby.

[bobbyboy112003]

We didn't know what to call that darn potato

[maidai]

To me the F word is the same as the N word for African Americans.

The term in itself is harmless but to me it means:

It's that person from that place... whether it be Ukraine, Spain, Israel or America.

Its closely associated with:

1 sex tourist.

2 that drunk white guy at kaw-sarn

3 walking atm that you try to sell a 300 baht shoe for 900.

There are words in Thai for Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and any of the asian countries.

Whenever I hear it, its just used to describe an inanimate object that has the potential for profit. If you want to refer to me call me Kon Russian, or Kon Americaaaa. Or Vee.

You may find this odd, but I grew up in an asian neighborhood... and the Koreans would get very offended if you called them Chinese... much more so if you called them a gook.

Me and my friend have been have a lot of fun making our own versions of slang using the word Farng.

Yo my farang hows it hanging? Me and this ill farang John-Noi were hanging and this other shady farang from soi ha comes around and tries to sell us some O. I told that raggady a*s farang to go screw a katoy...

I have to agree with you, Farang is a negative reference to White ppl. when i ever hear the word, I see the same kind of discriptions u mention come after the word.

sometimes ppl dont even know what they are saying is negative and always thought nothing of it. like the word, Khamen. I had my Khmer friends calling themselves Khamen when we were talking about Cambodia. I was like, U know what Khamen means? they didnt really think about it until i explained it.

we just call black ppl, Kon Dam.

[KingLing]

In Hawaii they call them " Haole "

[bobbyboy112003]

I have to agree with you, Farang is a negative reference to White ppl. when i ever hear the word, I see the same kind of discriptions u mention come after the word.

This is one of the most honest and strait forward descriptions I've heard on TF since I've been here-6 years.

I've heard many foreigners say the word was negative and they didn't like it much, like Digitalcat has explained, but not too many Thai's.

[KingLing]

Back in the days when I was growing up in NYC....We called them " White Boys "

[maidai]

like i said before, sometimes ppl dont even know they are being negative.

I sometimes hang out with some OG's, and they are talking about this and that. They will say Khamen this Khamen that, when there are Khmer ppl who are their good friends standing right there. Other times, they will say Jek this and Jek that, when there are Chinese ppl standing right beside them, what is even more weird is that these ppl also speak Thai and know what they are sayhing, but they sometimes just dont think about it either, because its said so often.

[bobbyboy112003]

Back in the days when I was growing up in NYC....We called them " White Boys "

I'm still here and they still do. Probably always will in one form or another I guess.

[bobbyboy112003]

http://www.into-asia.com/thai_language/farang.php

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 - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is the correct pronunciation.) It's basically used to describe caucasians, though African-Americans will sometimes also be known as farang or as farang dam ('black farang'). Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, so you can expect to hear farang eating farang 'jokes' if you happen to purchase any.

Other Asians are generally known by their country of origin (e.g. kon jeen - "Chinese people", kon yee-bpun - "Japanese people"), while people from the Indian Subcontinent are often known as kairk (which translates as "guest"). Kairk is used to describe even fluent Thai speakers of Indian descent who have been living in Thailand for generations and consider themselves as Thai - obviously being referred to as a 'guest' in these circumstances, while not particularly offensive, is not exactly complimentary either.

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.

[maidai]

Quote:

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 - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is the correct pronunciation.) It's basically used to describe caucasians, though African-Americans will sometimes also be known as farang or as farang dam ('black farang'). Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, so you can expect to hear farang eating farang 'jokes' if you happen to purchase any.

I wonder if they knew that the thrilled "R" sound is not a native Thai sound and it comes from Khmer language, to assume which word is the correct pronunciation "farang or Falang," when the word itself is a borrowed word that is already corrupted in pronunciation seems to me to be very funny if not very egocentric.

[PeeMarc]

with the seriously pathetic education system in Thailand, together with the fact that Thai people, on average, hardly ever read (lowest average in Asia), people with even Masters degrees here are relatively ignorant of much outside their country and culture. The word "farang" and its use, reflects this ignorance IMO.

[Mikee_Moose]

I decided to answer this "poll", for what it is worth and I answered that the word Farang is "negative".

The reason why is simple. If you have to apply a label to a "person" based on his/her skin colour, race, creed, religion then you are, in a sense, a racist. Therefore, being labeled a "farang" is NEGATIVE. Especially when condescending adjectives are included with the word.

On the other side of the coin, many "farang" apply some very negative adjectives to the word "Thai" as well.

[CiaranM]

I decided to answer this "poll", for what it is worth and I answered that the word Farang is "negative".

The reason why is simple. If you have to apply a label to a "person" based on his/her skin colour, race, creed, religion then you are, in a sense, a racist. Therefore, being labeled a "farang" is NEGATIVE. Especially when condescending adjectives are included with the word.

i would tend to agree with the above statement with the opt-out that i would say it's use displays ignorance rather than racism.

however I sometimes catch myself using the term "farang" also !! :?

[English_Bob]

i always thougt Farang ment French, since Muang Farang means Country of France.

I saw it as a negative term, kinda like Khamen for Cambodians, Jek for Chinese, Geow for Vietnamese, and of course Farang for White ppl

when refering to white ppl in a more proper many, I go with Kon Kao, or just Kon with what ever nationality they are if it is known at the end.

Did you answer the Thai language question yet?

Surely a REAL Thai guy would be able to read that simple, well known phrase and spot the mistakes.

[CherieAtwood]

One of those voting for "It's negative" is me. I'd rather call you guys "Westerners" though :roll:

[CiaranM]

One of those voting for "It's negative" is me. I'd rather call you guys "Westerners" though :roll:

what's wrong with calling us by our names !!

[English_Bob]

I have to agree with you, Farang is a negative reference to White ppl. when i ever hear the word, I see the same kind of discriptions u mention come after the word.

sometimes ppl dont even know what they are saying is negative and always thought nothing of it. like the word, Khamen. I had my Khmer friends calling themselves Khamen when we were talking about Cambodia. I was like, U know what Khamen means? they didnt really think about it until i explained it.

we just call black ppl, Kon Dam.

You're a liar

...and a bad one at that.

[CherieAtwood]

i always thougt Farang ment French, since Muang Farang means Country of France.

I saw it as a negative term, kinda like Khamen for Cambodians, Jek for Chinese, Geow for Vietnamese, and of course Farang for White ppl

when refering to white ppl in a more proper many, I go with Kon Kao, or just Kon with what ever nationality they are if it is known at the end.

Did you answer the Thai language question yet?

Surely a REAL Thai guy would be able to read that simple, well known phrase and spot the mistakes.

I assume he hasnt answered that question yet. I'm curious to see his answer too