a dumb question

[CaptMat 0]

Forgive my ignorant question, but what is the meaning of Farang?

 

Is is customer?

Non-Thai-person?

something else?

 

Thanks.

[irishman 0]

The short story is that it started out to mean "Frenchman" but is was later expanded to mean "foreigner"

 

Cheers

[CaptMat 0]

Thanks Irishman, much appreciated!   ;D

[Gabor 296]

Was a big discussion about it.

 

http://www.freelancerbar.com/cgi-bin/yabb/...509;start=20#20

[Crackpot 2]

The word for someone from France is  'Falangset'

 

Hence she shortening to Falang or Farang

[valentinoxxx 4]

An early foreign visitor to Thailand was a Frenchman.

Francais = Farangset = Farang = Falang.

[Gabor 296]

A still open question. Why the green fruit

 

http://kep.tar.hu/farang/midsize/pic1945394.jpg

 

is farang?

Anyway I copy some about I found before about the origin of farang.

 

ORIGIN OF THE WORD "FARANG"

 

 A wide-spread belief in Thailand is that the word "farang" (Caucasian)  is derived from the French word "francais". This derivation is implausible  on phonetic and historical grounds. It is in fact a popular misconception.  It is true, however, that these words have the same ultimate source.

The word is attested in various forms in languages in Europe, Africa,  the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is clear that the  word orginated as "Frank" in Europe and spread eastwards along Muslim

trade routes.

Thai most likely borrowed the word from influential Muslim Persian or Indian traders in the 17th century or even earlier. The Persian word was "farangg". The term probably was used to refer to early Portuguese  traders and subsequently to all Europeans (ie., non-Muslims).

It is possible that the Thai word "farangset" ("French") is a blend  of the word "farang" and the French word "francais", ie., "farangset" is actually derived from "farang", not vice versa. Certainly, the word  "farang" existed prior to, and independently of, "farangset".

Even if you can speak no other words of Thai, most European and American visitors to Thailand will quickly become familiar with the Thai word farang (often mispronounced (even by Thais) as falang - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is the correct pronunciation.) It's basically used to describe caucasians, though African-Americans will sometimes also be known as farang or as farang dam ('black farang'). Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, so you can expect to hear farang eating farang 'jokes' if you happen to purchase any.

Other Asians are generally known by their country of origin (e.g. kon jeen - "Chinese people", kon yee-bpun - "Japanese people"), while people from the Indian Subcontinent are often known as kairk (which translates as "guest"). Kairk is used to describe even fluent Thai speakers of Indian descent who have been living in Thailand for generations and consider themselves as Thai - obviously being referred to as a 'guest' in these circumstances, while not particularly offensive, is not exactly complimentary either.

 

Some people get very offended at being called farang, but whether it's an insult should or not really depends on the context. A few Thais who are uncomfortable with using it will say kon dtahng bpra-tayt ('people from other countries') instead, but this is still pretty rare. Farang is basically a neutral word, but people who respect you (or who should respect you) will not use it - if you hear a work colleague, for example, refer to you as farang they probably mean it as an insult while a taxi driver or market vendor doing the same is unlikely to mean any offense at all.

 

Regardless of its origin, people seem to be confused as to whether it is a derogatory term, like 'nigger', 'gook' or 'whitey', or that is merely a colloquial way of saying foreigner. I would tend to think it is the latter, although it can certainly be used in an insulting manner.

 

My wife, for instance, never refers to me as 'farang', she uses 'khon tang chart' (foreign person). She does however use 'farang' when talking about westerners she is not close to, but always addresses (and refers to) my friends with their names, usually prefixed with 'Khun'.

 

To me this indicates that 'farang' is used only when speaking about people you are not close to, like one waiter telling another to bring the food to 'that farang'. I don't think the waiter is insulting in this example, just using an easy characteristic of the customer to identify him to his colleague.

[VoxVader 1]

Farang definitely refers to white people.  I've known Asian-Americans who have gone to Thailand and while entirely western and foreign, they were certainly not considered farang.

 

Many BG's refused to believe they were American thinking there are only white and black Americans!

 

-Vox

[SlipSlopSlap 186]

Hi guys,

 

A still open question. Why the green fruit

 

Re the fruit reference, I have a feeling I read somewhere that  farang sounds very similar to the thai name of a particular fruit, but I could be wrong.  (Please, no flames from the thai veterens if I'm wrong  :))

 

seeya