....BTW, farang is the term I hear most often where I live.

Than you live in Thailand

Since i have been here, ( even when i was just travelling here) i can't say i have experienced any negativity towards me
By my neighbors, even my GF's family,
I am called "bong"

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:40 am

....BTW, farang is the term I hear most often where I live.

Than you live in Thailand

Could live near the Thai border towns, with a mixed population of those areas and inter-related families it's easy to be called either.

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:00 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:46 am

orichá wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:34 am However, there's one thing that cannot be categorized as positive or negative -- the simple strange fact that ALL Cambodians ALWAYS refer to foreigners and expats as 'farang' or 'barang' ...Even if you have a long-term relationship with someone, or their family -- I am sure -- when you are not around, someone among them will still use this term, 'farang', in reference to you. This recognition mechanism is such a strange thing among Khmer people; I think it reveals the extent to which they are insulated from the outside world by their language and culture... You are a farang/barang first, not a person, lol... Like or not, that is the way it is here...

Not my experience. While it's extremely uncommon to call someone by his or her name, I don't think I'm being referred to as 'Barang' (anymore). Usually it's either 'bong' (which is very in-precise) or 'Pa followed by the name of my kid'. The latter is a very common way to refer to people. I can't remember the last time I was refered to as 'Barang' (Khmer never use the word Farang).

In our village everybody calls me Om Barang, I tried half heartedly to get them to call me by name but it never caught on, but it’s not an issue for me, and jokingly calling them out for it invokes good humored laughter all round.
As you say, half of the adults here are not called by their names, rather by their being mother or father of (insert child’s name)

When you're not from France the word 'Barang' is actually technically wrong, because it means 'French'. For foreigners in general there's another word, 'borotei' (as mentioned in another post) but most Cambodians can't be bothered to use that word.
Whenever someone calls you Barang and it bothers you just reply with '<insert word to refer to the person, bong, om, ee, yay...> Khmer' or even better '<insert> Yuon' (which is slang for Vietnamese) and then apologize for using the wrong nationality. After that they will never call you Barang again but use the correct nationality when referring to you because most Cambodians are very proud to be Khmer and want to be called 'Khmer', not Asian or another nationality.

nemo wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:08 pm Friendly and curious is how they seem to me.
They speak more frankly than us. For example if you are fat they will address you as Bong Mabb with a smile.
There is no shame in reality.

So that's what it means.

The cheeky little fu****s...

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:00 am When you're not from France the word 'Barang' is actually technically wrong, because it means 'French'. For foreigners in general there's another word, 'borotei' (as mentioned in another post) but most Cambodians can't be bothered to use that word.

Definitely not the experience I'm having on a near-daily basis. I would say this is the new term that is replacing "barang" to talk about you. Of course, it's a different word, less specific, and is thus used in broader circumstances, but still. Khmer love talking about the people around them. Personally I'm not offended by being called a "barang" or a "borotay". A lot of the posts here saying that people call them "bong" etc are talking about Khmer they know personally. There's a big difference between how someone addresses you, and how someone talks about you, and also between how people you know and don't know talk about you. I can guarantee all of those posters, they are certainly being called "barang" very frequently, and categorized as such even more frequently. There's no inherent animosity in this however; after all, it's true. Saying that Khmer are racist overall would be an ignorant way of viewing the language and culture.

siliconlife wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:29 am

orichá wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:34 am However, there's one thing that cannot be categorized as positive or negative -- the simple strange fact that ALL Cambodians ALWAYS refer to foreigners and expats as 'farang' or 'barang' ...Even if you have a long-term relationship with someone, or their family -- I am sure -- when you are not around, someone among them will still use this term, 'farang', in reference to you. This recognition mechanism is such a strange thing among Khmer people; I think it reveals the extent to which they are insulated from the outside world by their language and culture... You are a farang/barang first, not a person, lol... Like or not, that is the way it is here...

Yes, even my daughter who has a Khmer passport is first and foremost "kon barang", never once has she been called "kon Khmer". However, she is never called "borotay" (foreigner), like we frequently are (when they don't want to say "barang" in front of our face), and non-Khmer Asians are as well.

I'd still much rather be here than among the wokists, whatever the case!

Yeah I get that too with my kid. It’s said in a malicious way it’s just a description, never bothered me.
I just say “Ota, kon kat!” (Spelling is off) and they usually laugh and ask where mum is.

You should hear what some of the Chinese call us.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:00 am

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:00 am

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:46 am

orichá wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:34 am However, there's one thing that cannot be categorized as positive or negative -- the simple strange fact that ALL Cambodians ALWAYS refer to foreigners and expats as 'farang' or 'barang' ...Even if you have a long-term relationship with someone, or their family -- I am sure -- when you are not around, someone among them will still use this term, 'farang', in reference to you. This recognition mechanism is such a strange thing among Khmer people; I think it reveals the extent to which they are insulated from the outside world by their language and culture... You are a farang/barang first, not a person, lol... Like or not, that is the way it is here...

Not my experience. While it's extremely uncommon to call someone by his or her name, I don't think I'm being referred to as 'Barang' (anymore). Usually it's either 'bong' (which is very in-precise) or 'Pa followed by the name of my kid'. The latter is a very common way to refer to people. I can't remember the last time I was refered to as 'Barang' (Khmer never use the word Farang).

In our village everybody calls me Om Barang, I tried half heartedly to get them to call me by name but it never caught on, but it’s not an issue for me, and jokingly calling them out for it invokes good humored laughter all round.
As you say, half of the adults here are not called by their names, rather by their being mother or father of (insert child’s name)

When you're not from France the word 'Barang' is actually technically wrong, because it means 'French'. For foreigners in general there's another word, 'borotei' (as mentioned in another post) but most Cambodians can't be bothered to use that word.
Whenever someone calls you Barang and it bothers you just reply with '<insert word to refer to the person, bong, om, ee, yay...> Khmer' or even better '<insert> Yuon' (which is slang for Vietnamese) and then apologize for using the wrong nationality. After that they will never call you Barang again but use the correct nationality when referring to you because most Cambodians are very proud to be Khmer and want to be called 'Khmer', not Asian or another nationality.

It doesn’t bother me at all, there’s no harm intended, they’re the nicest of people. I consider Om Barang to be my nickname here.

mannanman wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:50 am

siliconlife wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 9:29 am

orichá wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 8:34 am However, there's one thing that cannot be categorized as positive or negative -- the simple strange fact that ALL Cambodians ALWAYS refer to foreigners and expats as 'farang' or 'barang' ...Even if you have a long-term relationship with someone, or their family -- I am sure -- when you are not around, someone among them will still use this term, 'farang', in reference to you. This recognition mechanism is such a strange thing among Khmer people; I think it reveals the extent to which they are insulated from the outside world by their language and culture... You are a farang/barang first, not a person, lol... Like or not, that is the way it is here...

Yes, even my daughter who has a Khmer passport is first and foremost "kon barang", never once has she been called "kon Khmer". However, she is never called "borotay" (foreigner), like we frequently are (when they don't want to say "barang" in front of our face), and non-Khmer Asians are as well.

I'd still much rather be here than among the wokists, whatever the case!

Yeah I get that too with my kid. It’s said in a malicious way it’s just a description, never bothered me.
I just say “Ota, kon kat!” (Spelling is off) and they usually laugh and ask where mum is.

You should hear what some of the Chinese call us.

And you should hear what we call the chinese.

Not to their face though!

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:00 am Whenever someone calls you Barang and it bothers you just reply with '<insert word to refer to the person, bong, om, ee, yay...> Khmer' or even better '<insert> Yuon' (which is slang for Vietnamese) and then apologize for using the wrong nationality. After that they will never call you Barang again but use the correct nationality when referring to you because most Cambodians are very proud to be Khmer and want to be called 'Khmer', not Asian or another nationality.

I wouldn’t go around calling anyone Youn (which is in self offensive) to anyone. Some locals have Vietnamese heritage and some are actually 100% Vietnamese but to us they look and speak like locals.

Really bad idea!