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Farang, insult or not?


khunsanuk

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Farang is also derogatory/belittling when it's used to refer to you in the third person when Thais are discussing you in your company

 

Definitely, however I doubt that they will be using that term in your company once they realize you speak thai :)

 

They are not necessarily too respectful either when discussing other thai people who are not present. Ee - fill in the blank -, man etc...

 

If they didn`t have the word Farang, which word would they use to refer specifically to a caucasian foreigner?

 

 

I still haven`t seen a suitable alternative to this word :smirk:

 

Khon Tang Chaat Maa Jaak ??? I don`t think so.

 

 

cheers

hn

 

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Hi,

 

"They are not necessarily too respectful either when discussing other thai people who are not present. Ee - fill in the blank -, man etc..."

 

Right. My wife pretty much always uses 'man' when she is talking about other people. These could be random people seen on the street or TV, friends, students, customers, family, you name it.

(Don't think she has ever used it when talking to me about my friends though... )

 

I do not think it is meant disrespectful, just a matter of speech.

 

Funnily enough, she does not like people using 'koo' and 'mung' at all. One of her fellow teachers does this and my wife is always telling me how inappropriate she finds this.

 

Sanuk!

 

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Hi KS,

 

Yes, thais can get away with lotsa stuff foreigners will be reprimanded for :)

 

Recall an episode when my son was misbehaving and I made reference to him by using the pronoun Man.

 

Big Faux Pas on my side, I had a long lecture as to why I shouldn`t be using that word by the thai people I was talking to.

Riiiight.

 

The Farang Politeness Police struck again.

 

cheers

hn

 

 

 

 

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Hi,

 

"Your wife appears most polite in her manner of speach."

 

As you have just shown by presenting an insult as a compliment, the meaning of words is not necessarily the same as the intent behind them.

 

So, what is worse using a derogatory word without the intent to insult, or using nice polite words with the intent to insult?

 

Sanuk!

 

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Farang is also derogatory/belittling when it's used to refer to you in the third person when Thais are discussing you in your company

 

Definitely, however I doubt that they will be using that term in your company once they realize you speak thai :)

 

They are not necessarily too respectful either when discussing other thai people who are not present. Ee - fill in the blank -, man etc...

 

If they didn`t have the word Farang, which word would they use to refer specifically to a caucasian foreigner?

 

 

I still haven`t seen a suitable alternative to this word :smirk:

 

Khon Tang Chaat Maa Jaak ??? I don`t think so.

 

 

cheers

hn

 

In Laos they only use "farang" when they're trying to sound Thai...most of the time they use the perfectly respectable alternative, "khon khao," which is "white person," and I've never heard it used in the slightest derogatory way. But then again, heheh, Laos aren't Thais...

 

preahko

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Now reading an old book (1985) about the life of Jim Thompson.

They mention the use of the word, farang, as coming into use when the French were still in the area and the word was used to denote a French person and later on, westerns.

 

I do not see any insult in Thais using this word.

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