Jump to content
Thaiway

Farang

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

I feel farang is more of a neutral word to describe a white-skinned foreigner. I would think, in some situations, it could be seen as a put-down. I do not speak more than a few words of Thai and so I am no expert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The interesting thing is "farang" is also the Thai word for guava.

Why is that interesting? I have read that the fruit was brought to Thailand by Portuguese traders, therefore the people called the fruit farang. Do you think that is a positive, negative or neutral?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The interesting thing is "farang" is also the Thai word for guava.

Wonder if it has anything to do with Western men being shaped like guava...narrow at the top, wide at the bottom. B)

Interesting that the term is used neutrally. I know that some Asian countries aren't necessarily fond of white foreigners. I was reading somewhere the other day that there are clubs/restaurants in Japan that only allow Japanese customers and will block non-Japanese at the door.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been to Japan and I was not allowed into certain places because I am white and I was told that point blank.

What an awful feeling to be rejected because of the color of your skin. You can empathize with the black man in the Deep South during the civil rights struggle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the Philippines, we greet Americans using "Hey, Joe" or "Hey, man". We refer to them as "kano", which is taken from the word Amerikano. We have this thing of being overly excited about foreigners. We would even dare converse with them using our crooked version of the English language, and not ashamed of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I worked with a pinoy nurse who had failed her state boards exams. The psyche test is what got her. I talked to her about it and she said the test used American slang which she didn't always understand. I asked her for an example. She said the question was; "You are the nurse and your patient says to you,"I am at the end of my rope." What would you say to the patient?" She said, "All I could picture was a man holding on to the end of a rope. What the hell was I supposed to say?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have lived in many Asian countries and have never felt farang is used in an offensive way here in Thailand but agree that is not the case in HongKong, China and Japan. The only time I came across being turned away in Japan was in gay establishments where some places are reserved for 'sticky rice' so I wasn't offended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the Philippines, we greet Americans using "Hey, Joe" or "Hey, man". We refer to them as "kano", which is taken from the word Amerikano. We have this thing of being overly excited about foreigners. We would even dare converse with them using our crooked version of the English language, and not ashamed of it.

Yes, I hate it when I hear people in the streets call out to foreigners passing by. Even if they don't know the person they'd shout out, "Hey Joe!" (taken from the Tv series GI Joe). But I think that it's usually the lower class, especially men who hang out in the streets who do this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I hate it when I hear people in the streets call out to foreigners passing by. Even if they don't know the person they'd shout out, "Hey Joe!" (taken from the Tv series GI Joe). But I think that it's usually the lower class, especially men who hang out in the streets who do this.

Although some may resent being called "Hey, Joe" by a stranger, I would try to look at it in the best light and not take it as an insult.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before Spice magazine was called Spice it was called Sticky Rice. The guy who picked that name didn't know what Sticky Rice referred to.

LMAO

That's what I loved about the Tea Party crowd when they first started all their protests a few months ago...they kept talking about tea-bagging and had no idea what they hell it meant. Might have been immature, but I laughed til I cried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...