Help...her Mum...

[bino]

If you are feeling a bit bored or lonely after your hosts have left / gone to bed there is a brilliant place across the road called Posiedon Entertainment. Worth checking out- search on the net for info.

Even better yet... go ahead and take the mother in law and your new nephew there for dinner. Plush velvet seats, pretty good food. Good atmosphere. I have about 80% of my membership leftover there if you'd like to buy a couple of discount coupons from me.

I've never been there for the food- just the "entertainment"... which IMHO is expensive but some of the best in BKK!

[Greer]

If you do bring food as a gift, don't get carried away and buy any to bring back to Australia for your girlfriend - you have to declare it upon entry to the country and you will quite probably have it confiscated - Australian Customs are VERY serious about people bringing food into Australia. Thailand has no such problems, so nice Italian food products would be OK, but take the advice of many of the posters here and ask your lady in Oz first - that's the safest way.

[Nam Kao]

Once you open your wallet, all the vultures will start circling

[kayo]

Mate, you are from italy. Men = Flash Cars, style etc...

Your brother in law is from thailand. Men = Flash cars, wannabe style etc...

Get the kid a little ferrari model or something from the modena factory, but bare in mind that the kid will want to be able to show it off to his mates, so it can´t be too childish either. Think flash cars... Guy´s in thailand gain face from that. (Hence the excellent segway thread)

Forget about footie tshirts, a dime a dozen in BKK.

Good luck btw... Alone against the family... Must be suicidal...

Be yourself. Provided you are not the type to start shooting up or snorting coke in a flash restaurant.

[meadish_sweetball]

I think the most important thing is to be polite and show you respect her mother. You dont have to crawl, but make sure you appreciate that she is older and a very important person for having given birth to the girl you love.

You dont have to impress with large, extravagant gifts - chances are that this will create the wrong impression. Just showing you are an honest, well-behaved guy is enough. Dress tidily and make sure you are well-groomed (this is usually not a problem for Italians, but I mention it anyway because Thais place great importance with cleanliness).

Perfume for the mother is a great idea. Little food-related goodies are, as well. If you want to score extra points, make sure the presents are packaged nicely, too. Gift-wrapping is a more important art in Thailand than in Sweden, at any rate.

As for a present for the brother, ask your girlfriend what her brother's interests are and work something out from there.

Rather a small Ferrari like Kayo says, than a football shirt, I think. Thailand makes lots of fake football shirts from all over the world, so it will not seem very special, even though you pay a lot of money for it.