The Thais call all white Western foreigners “Farang”, no matter from what country they come from. 300 years ago French were the first Europeans who came to Thailand. France was also the first country with which the Thai kings had diplomatic relations. In the 19th Century, the French dominated the neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia, and the Thais had to deal with them to protect their borders. Therefore all Europeans were “Francais” for them. And since Thais cannot pronounce two consonants in a row, they called them “Farangcais" and abbreviated “Farang”. The use of the word "Farang" does not have a derogatory meaning, as is sometimes suspected. Thais are simply not able to distinguish whether a stranger is Englishman, American, French or Italian. As long as they do not know the name or nationality, they will quite naturally address him as Farang, or call him so in conversation with other Thais.

But “Farang” has a second meaning in the Thai language. It is the name for the guava tree, a small tree, originally at home in South America, and brought to Thailand by Portuguese traders. Since the fruits of these trees are eaten by birds, the seed will be spread everywhere with the droppings of the birds, the Thais also call the fruits "Farang kie nok", that means; “what the birds let drop”. The use of this word is applied by Thais as an unfriendly expression for all foreigners, for whom they do not have any respect.