absolutelyBangkok archive · Being farang
Originally published Oct. 2, 2009
Farang an f-word? The first time you were in Thailand and kids called you “farang!” you were smiling. How sweet they are! After a while you wondered why every foreigner is a farang. Or do you call all Asians back home “Chinese”? Or even worse by the name of a fruit?
Today I couldn’t care less. If someone calls me a farang I politely say “khor thod na krup, pom cheu Dan.” Smiles all over, and surprisingly Thais hardly ever forget one’s name once they know you. Whereas I still can’t figure out all those nicks.
Point being: for most Thais the word “farang” is hardly racist. That’s also the way Khun Nat sees it, a senior at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts. “I myself never realized that farang is a racist word,” she tells me. “That’s why I write about the ignorance of Thai people.”
Nat dedicates her final Intercultural Communication project to this ignorance. But collecting the data is not too easy she says. She went to Khao San, but didn’t really dare to disturb foreigners with her questionnaire which you’ll find below for download.
As she herself is not the only one who found the word farang to be neutral, her questionnaire is separated into two groups: one for Thai people and one for foreigners who are called farang.
First findings: 99% of Thai people who’ve done the questionnaire don’t feel that the word is offensive at all. So the question arises when you read the Bangkok Post’s forum thread Is Farang an F-Word?, is the issue at stake rather an issue among foreigners themselves?
So far Nat could question more than enough Thais, but not enough foreigners. And time is running out to submit the paper. Download the questionnaire here, fill it in and email it to Nat.
Even being a guava, Nat is looking for “jai dee farang.” Over to you.
I’m also pleased to include Nat’s preliminary paper on the topic. Gives a farang a broader idea who one really could be around here:
FARANG
Thailand nowadays has become a melting pot of races and cultures. Foreigners are easily found in almost every single part of Thailand. A large number of them are the first-time expatriates and visitors while some are the long-term foreign residents of the country. Noticeably, a majority of them are the Westerners or Caucasians, who are big, tall and have prominent noses, brown or blond hair and blue or green eyes. Instead of calling them kon tang chad or foreigner, the Thais have a special pronoun which is generally used among Thai people for calling this dominant appearance farang.
This essay will then examine the pronoun farang. It will first examine the negative point of view toward the pronoun farang of Eggmeng, the pseudonym of a forum writer “Is Farang an F-Word?” in the Bangkok Post’s website. After this, it will describe the origin and the common usage of this word among Thai society. Finally, there will be an analysis of the point of views toward farang of Thai and foreign interviewees who have been called farang during their stay in Thailand.
Eggmeng (…) is a Westerner of European descent. He married a Thai woman with a daughter who will soon be three years old. He has lived in Thailand for 16 years. Yet, he has never gotten used to the pronoun farang. His problem is that he is afraid that his step daughter will enculturate this standard usage of the term when she grows up. He points out that the pronoun farang is demeaning and racist word since he strongly believes that it is unnecessarily to remind foreigners that the Thais notice the differences. Besides, it has no need to draw attention to people’s appearances. He also feels as an outsider whenever he hears someone call him farang because deep within, he would also like to be a part of Thai society. His point of view toward the pronoun farang is quite negative.
However, the word farang has a long and interesting history. According to Welty, the word can extend further back than the Crusades, to the Franks of Northern France. The Arabs and Turks who fought the invasions of Palestine called the Franks ifrangi, and the Persians picked it up as farangi. These Muslim cultures had extensive trade relation with Siam, and the term thus became known in the Far East. (Welty, 2005)
Moreover, THolland, a commentator in the forum, also explains that the first time farang was used was about 400 years ago, to describe the fruit guava which was introduces to Siam by the Portuguese. Since then, farang has been used to describe anything that comes from foreign countries such as potato ( man farang), coriander ( pak chi farang), chewing gum ( maak farang).
References:
Welty, Roger. “Understanding Your Hosts.” The Thai and I, Thai Culture and Society. 2005. (p.141)
The questions Nat outlines:
– Is farang a demeaning and racist word?
– Does it unnecessarily draw attention to people’s appearance?
– Does it unnecessarily remind foreigners that Thais notice the differences?
– Does the word make foreigners feel outsiders?
In opposition to:
– Is farang a harmless word with no inherent negative meaning?
– No one means to hurt foreigners when using the word?
– Is there no way to change Thais to not call foreigners farang?
– Do farangs make the pronoun offensive themselves?
Again, download the questionnaire, fill it out and email it back to Nat. Maybe she will share her final findings later on.
And maybe you can add in the comments below if you’re a happy guava or not.
I myself don’t see much negativity in it. But then again, in Western countries you could be taken to court for seemingly demeaning racist names.
My wife though, Thai-Chinese, also thinks that the word farang is commonly used in a more condescending than respectful way.
Unintentionally, maybe, but nevertheless never used between people who esteem each other.
Don’t recall that her family ever called me farang. Certainly wouldn’t have liked it, from in-laws.
Outside the house?
Only people you anyway don’t want to deal with call you a farang.
From the absolutelyBangkok archive. Back to all stories