Jump to content

"FARANG"


pattaya127

Recommended Posts

BkkShaggy,

 

 

 

What is this frequent use of exclamation points? Should I feel scolded?

 

 

 

Very few people in Sa Keow Province know my name. Yet it only seems the truely ignorant need to refer to me in the first person as "farang." This province, as I'm sure you well know smile.gif, is not noted for its resident?s fluency in English. Yet they still seem to maintain a modicum of politeness. Even if they don't know much if any English they still refer to me as khun. Your assertion that they would not, assuming I don't speak Thai and then refer to me by another Thai word, "farang," that in that same scenario I would also not know, appears very contradictory.

 

 

 

The people I'm referring to as annoying are the "ji koh" and drunks. These are the ones who find it highly amusing to try to talk with "farang' to impress there friends. It is the same as idiots in my own country saying to the Japanese tourist "hey Asian, say something in Chinese." It just reflects incredible ignorance. Or the a-hole tuk-tuk driver that has not a clue this will not win any points. And don't tell me the guys working outside foreigner-oriented hotels day after day don't have enough contact with same to have either learned a little English. These are the same astro-physicists who show MP brochures to every Western male assuming this is all it's about.

 

 

 

As Lazy Phil pointed out, you must really have a knack for reading to assume I meant they would actually refer to me a "man" or "bud." I was referring to what I might say not them.

 

 

 

 

 

Sawut Dii. smile.gif

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 86
  • Created
  • Last Reply

people call me 'buksida', should i be equally insulted by that? i guess it just a different flavour of 'farang'! if my g/f called me farang i wouldnt be best pleased, shows a lack of respect. but for strangers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers etc its all they know and all they see so it doesnt really upset me. what does is when i get charged a 'farang' price, then they get a bag of abuse ... in their own language!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

but for strangers, shopkeepers, taxi drivers etc its all they know and all they see

 

--------------------------

 

This is the interesting part, and why i put it on the language forum. Why is there such a limited wording of, well...farangs?

 

I can think of other countries than Thailand where they will indeed address or refer to the white man/tourist more like: "this person", especially if they deal with them on a daily basis without too much grasp of the english. In saying that, i do not mean to cast a stone to the thais saying farangs, just very curious why the word is relied upon so often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

good point, could be for a number of reasons; education level, intention (do they really like us?), laziness ('kon dtang chaht' takes more effort than 'farang'). dont hear it as often in the working environment, but then most people are familiar with each other.

 

 

 

i know of people in the UK that would refer to any asian looking person as being from chinese origin, could be the same thing in reverse (ignorance would be the reason for that one).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know of people in the UK that would refer to any asian looking person as being from chinese origin, could be the same thing in reverse

 

-------------------------------------

 

would they have a name for it, that is the same that also defines these asians to the rest of the society, even if this society does not use it as much as them? would they say the name in presence of these asians? We do use a lot of slang and quick slurs in France for foreigners and ethnies, but usually the word rarely defines or encompasses as much as farang does, and definitely not used in the presence of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

½ÃÑè§ in fact means westerner, caucasian or european. (or the fruit GUAVA). I don't think it is supposed to have a negative meaning, but it is unfortunately used that way by many Thais when wanting to indicate a negative aspact about caucasians.

 

 

 

ªÒǵèÒ§ªÒµÔ (person of another nationality) or ªÒǵèÒ§»ÃÃà·È (person from another country) are the correct words for foreigner in the general sense. ªÒÇ can be replaced by ¤¹, but IMO ªÒÇ is more polite.

 

 

 

Ό can be used for boyfriend of girlfriend, or for yourself if you are a fan of someone (artist for instance).

 

IMO Ό is an example of a import of an english word into the Thai language. The orginal Thai word for boy- or girlfriend is probably ¤¹ÃÑ¡, but one doesn't hear this too often anymore.

 

 

 

ÊÒÃÕ and ÀÃÃÂÒ are the proper words to indicate ones husband and wife

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another interesting term used to indicates foreigners (by for instance immigration and often in legal terms) is ¤¹µèÒ§´éÒÇ (Khon Taang Dao). This translates into alien (or literarely "person from another planet", as if all non-thais come from far away and still undiscovered parts of the universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

probably ¤¹¤¹¹Õé (kon kon nee) but not ¤Ø³¤¹¹Õé (khun kon nee), although I cannot think of a proper sentence at this moment in which the word ¤¹ is used twice in a row.

 

There is usually another word - like ½ÃÑè§"- in between.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Another interesting term used to indicates foreigners (by for instance immigration and often in legal terms) is ¤¹µèÒ§´éÒÇ (Khon Taang Dao). This translates into alien (or literarely "person from another planet","

 

 

 

'person from another planet' would be ¤¹µèÒ§´ÒÇ not ¤¹µèÒ§´éÒÇ as you suggested. ´éÒÇ means a (distant)land where as ´ÒÇ means star/planet. The tonations are different with the Mai To äÃéâ· on the word ´ÒÇ. A BIG different.

 

 

 

 

 

"probably ¤¹¤¹¹Õé (kon kon nee) but not ¤Ø³¤¹¹Õé (khun kon nee), although I cannot think of a proper sentence at this moment in which the word ¤¹ is used twice in a row.

 

There is usually another word - like ½ÃÑè§"- in between.

 

 

 

 

 

Actually you can say both. Both are gramatically correct. ¤¹¤¹¹Õé (kon kon nee) is just a way of emphsising it a bit.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The people I'm referring to as annoying are the "ji koh" and drunks."

 

 

 

 

 

Jik-koh or ¨Ôê¡â¡ë comes from English word..guess...Gigolo, with a different connotation of course. It doesn't mean drunk but rather a person who just hang aroung doing nothing or badmouth to passer-by and living off their family of gf.

 

 

 

 

 

"As Lazy Phil pointed out, you must really have a knack for reading to assume I meant they would actually refer to me a "man" or "bud." I was referring to what I might say not them. "

 

 

 

 

 

Got it mate ! I was having a hangover while reading it !

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...