Hello from Thailand

[MoonWrasse]

You are absolutely right—farang is the sound Thais made when they attempted to pronounce the words France (as in Vive la France) or the “fran” part in francais. France was the first European (and Caucasian, at the time) country Thailand (at that time, Siam) established diplomatic relationship with.

France francais

This is NOT our intension. I am pretty confident in saying that most Thais nowadays are ignorant of the origin of the term farang as used to refer to white foreigners. Anyway, there is nothing insulting about being mistaken for a French person. I realise that you are joking, but it seems (to my ignorant Thai sensibility) to be a bad American joke...

I'm sure many Brits, Germans, etc would also prefer not to be called "French"

 

[Vie]

I'm sure many Brits, Germans, etc would also prefer not to be called "French"

Again, you are absolutely right. I myself would also prefer not to be called “French,” since I’m not. OTOH, it wouldn’t be an insult. I do know my history and realise that there were no love lost between all the countries that we’ve mentioned (Thailand and France included). It’s 2005 now—everyone needs to learn how to forgive (even a little).

 

[buksida]

I'm sure many Brits, Germans, etc would also prefer not to be called "French"

This is why I prefer "buksida" :11ztongue



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[DandyDon]

This is NOT our intension. I am pretty confident in saying that most Thais nowadays are ignorant of the origin of the term farang as used to refer to white foreigners. Anyway, there is nothing insulting about being mistaken for a French person. I realise that you are joking, but it seems (to my ignorant Thai sensibility) to be a bad American joke...

Hmmm, does that have anything to do with why we get so few French divers on SB.com - since SB is dominated by USAerians, and they expect us to be less friendly, perhaps even give them grief...? :11:

There is certainly a lot to admire about the French, and Scuba was greatly developed as a sport by "The Capitan" and other Frenchmen.

SB is intentionally a friendly board, perhaps we can set a better example by being friendlier to the French when we do show up here. And maybe we should rob the treasury and send NetDoc and TechAdmin on a good will tour over there..??

I'll go with them and bring corkscrews. Got several....