Farang
I’ve been using the word farang all over my blog without realising there are still many people who don’t know the meaning of that word.
Farang is the Thai word for a white foreigner. If you’d ever visit Thailand and have a paler skin, they will call you a farang. There are other Asian nationalities with paler skin, but they will not be called a farang if they are clearly from asia. It’s mainly only used for foreigners outside of Asia. Asians are usually not called farang, although they are still foreigners. Africans and African Americans are sometimes called ‘farang dahm’, but often just referred to as farang nowadays.
It’s actually a bit of stereotypical thinking : they separate people (not in an offensive way) by their skin color, hair , shape of eyes and body type. Being called a farang is not an insult per se. I’m being called a farang most of the times, I’m not completely one, but I don’t ever feel like it is insulting.
It’s mostly up to us if the word farang is an insult or a compliment. So please behave acceptable and be nice to others, so we farangs can keep taking the word farang as a compliment.
Yes sometimes they will point and laugh at you, but try to keep in mind they are not laughing with you… alt least not all the time :)
