This is Nelson Howe, aka The Swearing Farang in Thailand. It was only the giggling of my wife that drew my attention to the Swearing Farang. Curious as to what was amusing her I took a peek over her shoulder to view her phone. She was watching a video of this old American Guy having what appeared to be a bit of a rant about Thailand.
My first thought was that he was another whinging farang complaining about life in Thailand, and that had perhaps been in Thailand too long. Alas, I was wrong. According to the intro of each short video, Nelson Howe is a professor of philosophy who had been living and working in Thailand for 3 years.
In the videos, he talks about many aspects, difficulties, and peculiarities of living in Thailand after visiting Bangkok for the first time.
The format of the videos includes him answering questions and acting out some hilarious comedy scenes. The topics include the difficulties of ordering food in Thailand, the many meanings of the Thai smile, Thai ghosts and spirit worship in Thailand, Thai graffiti, how to pick a winning Thai lottery ticket, and the use of Thai swear words.
Perhaps the funniest thing about the videos is he conveys his message by using a whole host of profanities in Thai and English.
What is a farang in Thailand?
Where the use of farang in the Thai language originates from is difficult to say, but Thais typically refer to white western foreigners as farangs.