Farang

Farang (Thai: ฝรั่ง [faràŋ]), also spelled falang^{[citation needed]}, is the generic Thai word for a Westerner. A general term for foreigners is Thai: คนต่างประเทศ khon tang prathet ('people from other countries'). There is no expressly negative or positive implication in the word itself. However when it is used along with other words, it can bring a negative meaning depending on the context. For instance, Thai: ฝรั่งขี้นก farang khi nok (literally 'bird droppings foreigner') could mean a Westerner who is stingy. It is common in Thai to just say farang to point out the presence of one, without making a whole sentence. People of African descent from the Western hemisphere have been occasionally referred to as Thai: ฝรั่งดำ farang dam ('black farang'), but Thai people who have not been in Western countries or exposed to their cultures may still refer to all African descents as negro (Thai: นิโกร) without a negative meaning.

To understand the utilization of farang in the way the Thai people create identities: (1) farang is a "Thai production system of power/knowledge concerning the West" and it is a "reflexively tactical method" to produce the "Thai-ized" version of the West as superior but suspicious outsiders, based on specific historical and cultural encounters with/against them.

Exploration and understanding

During the Vietnam War, American military presence increased in Thailand. This experience provided a unique impression of Americans/Westerners for many Thai people. However, the hostility that is often expressed through the use of farang goes beyond military presence. Western religions, lifestyles, eating habits, family dynamics, ideas about respect and independence, clothing styles, language, and even appearance, directly clash with those of the Thai people.

Globalization and other factors have brought about a strange relationship between Thais and foreigners. As Anna Tsing explains in "The Global Situation", globalization's world-making flows have acted much like water rushing down a hillside, carving rocks, moving gravel, switching courses, and constantly recreating channels. Globalization's flow through Thailand has affected the country both in positive and negative ways. Some stones were upturned and broken down by the water's force and others were strengthened and fortified by that same force. The word farang teeters on the boundary between positive and negative in Thailand.

The ebbs and flows of Globalization continue with tourism. Tourism in Thailand is a large industry, both sex and otherwise. As Ara Wilson discusses in her book The Intimate Economies of Bangkok, this industry is intertwined with and affected by Gender Identities in Thailand. Tourism, in combination with a history of impoverishment, has led some Thai people to associate westerners with money. “Tourism is the major foreign exchange earner, with over 11 million tourist arrivals in 2004.” This association with money and power can lead to a rock star treatment of foreigners; many privileges and a great deal of respect often come to those with white skin. Awe and admiration for foreigners is commonplace. The word suey ('beautiful') often follows the word farang. The idea that white is beautiful is reinforced by store shelves full of skin-whitening products. Thai people also, historically and today, are interested in keeping Thailand for the Thais. This idea has spread into the cultural identity of the farang, both with fees often four times as large at parks and temples, and by restricting visas for spouses of Thai people. All of this is interconnected to the fact that Thais pay close attention to farang in their home country.

Farang and food

Farang is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago, which of course can lead to jokes when foreigners are seen eating a guava in Thailand. Farang khi nok (Thai: ฝรั่งขี้นก) is a particular variety of guava, feijoa. Avaricious Westerners may also be called Farang khi nok. This is usually taken to mean "bird-shit farang", as khi means waste and nok means (wild) bird; but, while khi nok may mean guano, it is also a species of fish, Diagramma pictum, a species of grunts Haemulidae.

Varieties of food/produce which were introduced by Europeans are often called farang varieties. Hence, potatoes are man farang (Thai: มันฝรั่ง), whereas man (Thai: มัน) alone can be any tuber; culantro is called phak chi farang (Thai: ผักชีฝรั่ง, literally farang cilantro/coriander); and chewing gum is mak farang (Thai: หมากฝรั่ง). Mak (Thai: หมาก) is Thai for betel, which many rural Thais chew for the euphoria it gives.

In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called mak sida (Thai: หมากสีดา), mak being a prefix for fruit names. Thus Bak sida (Thai: บักสีดา), bak being a prefix when calling males, refer jokingly to a Westerner, by analogy to the Thai language were farang can mean both guava and Westerner.

Etymology and related words

It is generally believed that the word farang originated with the Indo-Persian word farangi, meaning foreigner. This in turn comes from the word Frank via the Arabic word firinjīyah, which was used to refer to the Franks, a West Germanic tribe that became the biggest political power in Western Europe during the early Middle Ages and from which France derives its name. Due to the fact that the Frankish Empire ruled Western Europe for centuries, the word "Frank" became deeply associated, by the Eastern Europeans and Middle Easterners, with Latins who professed the Roman Catholic faith. By another account the word comes through Arabic afranj, and there are quite a few articles about this. One of the most detailed treatments of the subject is by Rashid al-din Fazl Allâh.

In either case the original word was pronounced firangi in North India and Pakistan or parangiar in Tamil, and entered Khmer as barang and Malay as ferenggi.

See also

• List of slang terms for white people in non-Western countries
• Barang
• Farangi
• Franks: Legacy
• Luk kreung

External links

• Farang in the Concise Oxford Dictionary
• German language bi-monthly magazine, published by: Der FARANG, 576/25 Moo 5, Photisarn Rd. Chonburi 20150, Pattaya, Thailand
• The Thai word "Farang", its variations in other languages, and its Arabic origin
• Corness, Dr. Iain (2009). Farang. Dunboyne: Maverick House Publishers. ISBN 978-1-905379-42-2. 

• Marcinkowski, Dr Christoph (2005). From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century. With a foreword by Professor Ehsan Yarshater, Columbia University, New York. Singapore: Pustaka Nasional. ISBN 997-1-77-491-7.