What Does Farang Mean? Is It Rude?

Farang (ฝรั่งfà-ràng) is the everyday Thai word for a Westerner, especially a white European, American or Australian. It is usually neutral, not an insult: it's simply what Thais call Westerners, the way English speakers might say "foreigner". The same word also means guava, which gives Thais an endless supply of jokes.

It works as an adjective too, meaning "Western": อาหารฝรั่งaa-hǎan fà-ràng is Western food, หนังฝรั่งnǎng fà-ràng a Hollywood film and เพลงฝรั่งpleeng fà-ràng an English-language song.

Farang or falang?

Both, in speech. The word has two low tones, and in relaxed Thai many people turn an r into an l, so you'll often hear "fà-lang". In writing it's always ฝรั่งfà-ràng.

Where the word comes from

The word most likely comes from the Persian farangi, from "Frank", the name people in the Middle East used for Western Europeans from the time of the Crusades. Persian and Indian traders probably brought it to the Siamese capital, Ayutthaya, in the centuries when Portuguese, Dutch and French ships began to arrive. The same root lives on in Hindi firangi, Khmer barang and the Thai name for France, ฝรั่งเศสfà-ràng-sèet.

Farang the fruit

ฝรั่งfà-ràng is also the guava, which came from tropical America with European traders: the foreigners' fruit. So ฝรั่งกินฝรั่งfà-ràng gin fà-ràng, "a farang eating a guava", is the oldest joke in the book, and every Thai child knows it. Other arrivals from the West got the same label: the potato is มันฝรั่งman fà-ràng ("foreign tuber") and asparagus is หน่อไม้ฝรั่งnàw-máai fà-ràng ("foreign bamboo shoot").

Is "farang" offensive?

Usually not. Thais use it in front of you, on TV and in friendly questions like ฝรั่งมาจากไหนfà-ràng maa jàak nǎi, "Where's the farang from?". Most of the time it's descriptive, and often affectionate. Context can change that:

• ไอ้ฝรั่งâi fà-ràng, with the rude prefix ไอ้âi, is an insult.
• ฝรั่งขี้นกfà-ràng kîi-nók, literally a small wild "bird-poo guava", is slang for a scruffy, penny-pinching backpacker.
• Called out by strangers in the street, or said about someone who has lived here for twenty years, it can feel like being labelled an outsider, and some long-term residents dislike it.

Who counts as a farang? In everyday speech, Westerners, and mostly white ones. Thais usually describe other foreigners by nationality, such as คนจีนkon jiin (Chinese) or คนญี่ปุ่นkon yîi-bpùn (Japanese).

Other Thai words for foreigners

• ชาวต่างชาติchaao dtàang-châat: foreigner; polite and neutral, used in the news, on signs and in official contexts
• คนต่างชาติkon dtàang-châat: foreigner; everyday and neutral
• นักท่องเที่ยวnák-tâwng-tîaw: tourist
• ต่างด้าวdtàang-dâao: alien, the legal term on work permits; it sounds cold in conversation
• แขกkàek: literally "guest", and also an old label for people of South Asian and Middle Eastern origin that can offend, so don't use it for people
• ฝรั่งหัวดำfà-ràng hǔa dam: "a black-haired farang", a Thai who acts very Western

How to reply when someone says "farang!"

Smile. It's almost always curiosity, not hostility, and a little Thai changes everything:

• Say where you're from: ผมมาจากอังกฤษpǒm maa jàak ang-grìt (men) or ฉันมาจากอังกฤษchǎn maa jàak ang-grìt (women), "I'm from England", plus ครับkráp or ค่ะkâ.
• Make the joke yourself: pick up a guava at the market and say ฝรั่งกินฝรั่งfà-ràng gin fà-ràng.
• When you get the inevitable พูดไทยเก่งจังpûut tai gèng jang ("your Thai is so good!") after three words, a modest ยังไม่เก่งyang mâi gèng ("not good yet") goes down well.

You'll learn to say where you're from, and to answer that compliment, in Unit 2 of the free course.