What is a farang – or falang?
Thai people, like most Orientals, have difficulties with the ‘Rs’ and Ls’ and swap between these pronunciations frequently. Most westerners have heard Orientals speak of ‘flied lice’ – and we know immediatly that they mean ‘fried rice’. Its the same with the words farang and falang – which means exactly the same thing: a male westerner. Females from the west are termed farang/falang lady. Originally, the name tag applied to French travelers who settled in Indo China but is now applied to almost anything western. They talk of falang movies – falang cars – falang cosmetics – as we say, anything western. The term only applies to Anglo-Saxon and Latin races and not to Japanese or Chinese peoples whom the Thais call by different names.
