Zaad Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Phil, I don't mind nor care when strangers refer to me as farang. I do care when people know my name and choose not to use it but address me as 'farang' instead, like Batty's experience. I find that disturbing and disrespectful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I got on the Train in KUmphawape a few weeks ago, headed to Nong Kai...it was the government train, 19 bht etc...full of low lives, drunks thugs etc...I boarded, and immediately heard "Maksida"which is I believe the Lao/Issaarn word for farang...does it mean anything? well...to them maybe no, maybe yes...to us it does, you wouldn't look at a Black guy getting on a bus and say "oh, black guy is here..." loud enought for him to hear...or maybe you would...anyway, point is, the cultureal differences at play here. My Thai teacher swears up and down that Farang and Mak-see-da are not bad or derogatory in any context...at least culturally among Thais...keep in mind, some of us are not dealing with the top of the crop either... I look more for signals such as facial gesttures to see if they are being derogatory...example, went with Mrs Hippie (the new one) to a massage place in a mall in Ramkhamheng...there was a discussion as to who would massage the farang, and accompanied by some facial gestures...less than polite...one of the women looked back, and told the others "I think he speaks Thai..." And I smiled at her. I then told the fat ugly cow with the face "mai ow Naut..." and we left...went to another place, Mrs. Hioppie suggested I do the talking...guess what, they understood about 3 words of my crap Thai! and we were greeted much more warmly...had they thought I wouldn't understand, no idea how they would have behaved...to me, it is more the actions/context than the word itself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dddave Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 One point that hasn't been mentioned is that "Classifiers" play a really important role in Thai and "farang" has evolved into a classifier for Khun, Western, not Thai. People use it automaticaly, rarely derogitorily; not at all like "gringo" or "gwiello" which is usually used in a hostile sense. She may also be asking "Where's the god-dammed guava?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I know Thais who don't use the word Farang but adress me/us as foreigners. Sounds much nicer. I had my moments hee in the LOS where I thought the use of the word Farang was negative but decided after a while that it isn't. However, it may be in what context it's used and also as already mentioned, with what facial expression. It would disturb me also if people who know my name would call me Farang. Never happened with my family in law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 good point dddave... 'pen chao tang pratet' is certainly more polite but such a mouthful....'farang' is fine with me if it's said right. I do sometimes say I am 'chao doy' from a very remote hilltribe but hardly anyone ever believes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 "My first trip to the village, I got the same treatment from my wife's whole family. Everyone referred to me as Farang and I told my wife that it bothered me as I do have a name and it's not "Farang". My wife had a talk with everyone and from that point on I was "Ranger". I don't think there is any malicious intent, it's just they didn't know any better" Ranger Well, yes... I suppose it depends how you look at it. It may be the case that in a situation similar to yours, they knew already that ferang was inapropriate/inpolite and that you had a name, but until someone made an issue of it (i.e. you, or GF), they would continue to call you ferang out of shear laziness. I stress *laziness* however.... I'm not suggesting they were being intentionally rude, just maybe couldn?t be arsed to go through the simple motions of making everyone in the village aware of your name. "What?s his name again? Khun Rangler? Ringler? Ronger? Oh bollocks, its ferang ok that?s easier. Unless he disapproves we will just call him ferang" Don?t you find this with Thais sometimes? They can be a little lethargic in situations that we would consider important to get right. And I suppose, visa versa. We have all been stood in a 7/11 queue waiting patiently when a Thai barges in front of you, rudely. If you make an issue of it, they apologise in a big way.... if you say nothing, they couldn?t give a toss. Again, as I see it, if they think they can get away with offence with no loss of face for both parties, they sometimes will. However, if the issue is raised they will go out of there way to redeem/correct themselves. IMO, this is why ferang is used so frequently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 HI, Should not be considerred insulting in my opinion. However, many people use the words "foreigners" also. Jasmine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aesthete Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 i tried to ask my friend's thai GF how often farang was insulting, and she implied that it was rare, but kicked out a few insults for westerners that I should have written down for future reference. I find it fun to have deragatory racial slurs used againts me. I've laughed the few times I've heard "cracker" or "honkey" in my life, cuase it was funny. I kind of wish it happened more often, as anyone who uses it is really hoping for a big negative response and usually get quite pissed when I laugh at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I don't think it is the "word" itself, but the rest of the sentence/context in which it is used. I have seen numerous Thais use it accompanied by less than flattering facial expressions etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 jasmine said:HI, Should not be considerred insulting in my opinion. However, many people use the words "foreigners" also. Jasmine No offense Jasmine, but thats naff. If I recall correctly, you live in the States. How would you feel if some one called out to you in the street "Hey, foreigner", or if your husbands family always refered to you as "the foreigner", or if some one in your office said "go ask the foreigner". You, I think wold get pretty mad pretty quick. It *is* a derogatory term when applied to an individual. The word possibly has use as a collective word, (i.e. "foreigners" in Thailand...), but when applied to an individual its insulting. -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.