JJJJS wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:58 pm So boratey = foreigner, barang/farang means 'white French foreigner' and there's definitely no negative connotations in the usage of the latter, ever. Glad that's all cleared up.

It can totally be used negatively, but generally it doesn't have negative connotations

JJJJS wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:32 pm

sigmoid wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:28 pm depends on the context

Could you elaborate on this please

As mentioned, when used in anger in derogatory tone, it can be negative. This is mainly with 'farang' in Thailand, especially if they add the word "ai" (ไอ้ - pronounced like the pronoun "I") beforehand.

i would translate it as "NON-Thai"

Barang (Khmer: បារាំង) is a Khmer word meaning French. It is often mispronounced as ba-réng. The correct pronunciation is bâ-râng, but pâ-râng is also acceptable. It is thought to be corruption of the word France but this may be a misconception.[verification needed] The term is related to the Thai term farang which has a similar meaning. In Malay, barang means "thing".

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia which was once a French protectorate called Cambodge in French. The French had many influences on the Khmer language, such as the pronunciation of Mercedes. Many technical terms used today in Khmer are of French origin.

In the Khmer language, the term barang has also become a non-pejorative word for a foreigner, particularly one of European ancestry, but some Khmer speakers might use it in a bad context. The term is becoming more popular now among travelers. It is even used by some expatriates living in Cambodia themselves.

Alex wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 7:53 pm

truffledog wrote: ↑Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:30 pm i would translate it as "NON-Thai"

That's definitely wrong. Not all Non-Thais are referred to as "farang" in Thailand. For example, you'd never see a Thai call a Khmer or an Indian a "farang".

It generally means "Caucasian foreigner". The only common edge cases are African Americans; some Thais would call them "farang" while others wouldn't. Middle Easterners and Latinos that are light-skinned enough usually "qualify".

i would translate it as "NON-Thai" with a few exeptions.

As a French, i'd like to know more about the potential negative connotation of these words, especially around the time of Cambodia's independence, if anyone here knows some old stuff about this transition era.... Maybe it had a bad connotation when only meant for Frenches, which was overturned by the even worse time of the genocide ? Then was used for westerners in general ? Connotation may evolve with time & context...

As for me, i was much more called a Buleh (Albinos - common word, but weird reading of my skin tone, i'm as dark as the local chineses at least, when tanned, but still blond, i'll give you that), or a Londo (Belanda->Holland->Dutch) because i was in Indonesia, that was colonized 300 years by Holland. It doesn't have a genuine bad meaning behind it, but it is still the name for the foreign ex- oppressor, so it triggers some connotations nevertheless...
I also started to correct my interlocutors by asking to be called a foreigner (orang asing), or a French (Perancis) as i certainly not want to look as a Dutch to them.


An old French advertisement for Liebig "With real meat extracts" which reads weird, written right under these two women illustrations...