Is the word “farang” racist? This is just one of many thorny issues tackled in Coconuts Bangkok writer Dan Waites’ new guide to Bangkok culture, Culture Shock! Bangkok. The latest in a long-running series, the book aims to help foreigners adapt to life in the Thai capital and make sense of what’s around them. Covering history, politics, architecture, Thai customs and belief, food, language and the practicalities of getting by in the city, the book should pique the interest of newcomers and old hands alike. The following is an excerpt from the book. Do you agree with Dan’s take on the issue?
The “f” word
Years ago a friend was working as an English teacher at a school in Sri Racha in Chonburi province, not too far from Pattaya. One of the other teachers, an older American man, complained to the management about the language the Thai teachers were using when talking about the foreign staff: namely, their constant use of the word “farang,” which has two meanings in Thai – “guava” and “white person.” This teacher thought the word was racist. The management listened to his concerns and, surprisingly, banned the Thai teachers from saying it in the school. But in the following days, my friend noticed the Thai teachers were now using a new word a lot: “baksida.” He asked his Thai girlfriend what it meant. “Oh,” she laughed. “It’s Isarn language for ‘farang.'”
“Farang” will probably be one of the first words you learn in Thai, being one of the select few Thai words that foreigners use when speaking English. While some people suppose it must be short for the Thai word “farangset” (“French”), it’s believed by scholars to derive from the Persian “farangi,” which in turn refers to the Franks, the Germanic tribe that ruled Western Europe in the Middle Ages, and from whom France gets its name. A black person from the West may be referred to as “farang dam.”
If you’re white, Thai people will use the word in your presence, whether you like it or not. And they’ll say it a lot. Most Thais argue that the word farang isn’t racist, and simply means a person of European descent. And they’re basically right. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the language having a word that means ‘white person’. And unlike some of the racial epithets that are considered offensive in polite Western society, there’s no history of oppression lurking behind “farang” that makes it offensive. The vast majority of farang in Bangkok live lives of relative privilege. An oppressed minority they are not.
Having said that, the word is probably overused. If it’s used for the purpose of distinguishing you in a crowd, it’s reasonable: “Who ordered the phad Thai?” “The farang in the corner.” But in some people’s speech, it can seem to take the place of the third person pronoun when a foreigner is present. They won’t ask their English-speaking friend what “he” said, but what “the farang” said. And when you’re the only person in the shop and still being referred to as “the farang,” it can seem like you’re having your farang-ness rubbed in your face a tad unnecessarily.
Some foreigners, like the man in the anecdote above, take exception to this. They start to consider the word to be a sort of racial slur, and demand they’re described as “khon tang chat” (literally, “different nation person”) or “khon tang prathet” (“different country person”). This is going too far. What grates on these expats – usually those who are married to a Thai, whose children are Thai nationals, and who expect to spend the rest of their life here – is the way the word functions as a constant reminder of the fact that they’re considered different. But that’s an idea you just have to accept, or you won’t be very happy in Thailand.
Farang for sale
My friend Eric recounts something that happened to him while with his Thai wife in Isarn a few years ago: “I’m on a bus sitting in a gas station in Khon Kaen when this fruit vendor motions to me [through the window] that he’s got fruit for sale. I indicate to him that I’m not interested. He makes a beeline for the bus anyway and all I hear when he gets on is, ‘farang, farang, farang.’ I turn to my wife and say, “Damn it, I told him I don’t want anything. Why does he assume the white guy wants his shit?” My wife turns to me and says: “Calm down. He’s selling guava. And he’s trying to sell it to the entire bus, you idiot.”’
Culture Shock! Bangkok, published in January 2014 by Marshall Cavendish Editions (ISBN: 978 981 4408 592), is available in all good bookstores, priced at THB695.
iReason says
@Paul
"This is the way it is ingrained in our culture, which based on the history so vastly different from yours regarding racial diversity."
I think that is an accurate assessment. Doesn't make it right in many people's eyes. It is a divisive term. Plain and simple. " distinguishing Caucasian as "farang"? I've heard the term used and much harsher language directed as people of darker skin. These are not "caucasians". Maybe the Thais should try the true path of tolerance for all peoples and not marginalize them…
Paul Suvansupa says
@iReason your reasoning is based on the Western psyche regarding racism. To us Thais, distinguishing Caucasian as "farang" is as neutral as telling apart "gentleman" and "lady." This is the way it is ingrained in our culture, which based on the history so vastly different from yours regarding racial diversity.
iReason says
@ Ton Aoy Khwansuda Britney:
"We think foreigners are the better class of people because they're from more developed and civilized countries"…
Yes, that may be the case and the reason these foreigners are offended.
Maybe because they are more "civilized"?
"As for the drivers, I would pardon them coz i know most of them are not well educated"…
I think with your second quote, you get to the heart of the the matter: uneducated.
" I refer to my American boyfriends as farang. It is absolutely neutral in my view," Neutral? May I suggest alternatives such as; person, gentleman, lady or customer?
Pradeep Shah says
Farang is what Thai's call foreigners and no offence is meant
Charles Dickens says
The term doesn't upset me very often and I sometimes use it myself even about myself. When I walk down my Soi though and the children are all chirping 'farang farang' it hardly sounds like a compliment to me.
Of course I never find it necessary to mention any of the benefits there are to being 'farlang'. It is one of the things one has to get used to living in Thailand and it is not so bad.
iReason says
… "If it’s used for the purpose of distinguishing you in a crowd, it’s reasonable: "Who ordered the phad Thai?" "The farang in the corner."
Reasonable? Ridiculous. This is a bigoted mentality at the very least. How about "that gentleman/woman" in the corner? Or that person?
It is clearly used as a dismissive term. Why should we care what color someone is or where they come from? To catagorize and marginalize? We are are all people. Don't be an apologist for ignorant, racist bigots…
Tung Sal says
Nah, Farang is a neutral term. If anything, you should notice typical Thais tend to treat Farangs better than their own people.
On the other hand, an ethnic slur for white people is "Farang-Ta-Naam-Khao"(Ta-Naam-Khao =cloudy eyes ), which is not that bad per se.
จ่าพิชิต ขจัดพาลชน says
farang have no offensive meaning
farang is the same word as "foreign"
In the old days When foreign culture scatter in Thailand
Thai people learn some foreign word but they can not pronounce it properly
So they change the pronounction in the easy way ,
you may call it " transliteration" ,for example
foreign —> "fa-rang"
commercial —> "kam-ma-jol"
sapon (soap) —> "sa-boo"
and some word have synonym meaning such as "farang" and "guava"
they both pronouce "fa-rang" in Thai and "bak si da"
is north-east area dialect for "guava"
It isn't offensive , it is humor in Thai language
จ่าพิชิต ขจัดพาลชน says
farang have no offensive meaning
farang is the same word as "foreign"
In the oldays When foreign culture scatter in Thailand
Thai people learn some foreign word but they can not pronounce it properly
So the change the pronounction in easy way ,
you may call it the transliteration ,for example
foreign —> "fa-rang"
commercial —> "kam-ma-jol"
sapon (soap) —> "sa-boo"
and some word have synonym meaning
such as "farang" and "guava" they both pronouce "fa-rang" in Thai
and "bak si da" is north-west area dialect for "guava"
It isn't offensive , it is humor in Thai language