I lived in Thailand 74-80, mostly Bangkok. Near the general post office were two Sihk restaurants that served up a goat curry that still ranks as some of the best food I've ever eaten.
While I was stationed near Chiang Mai, Thailand 1972-73 (in the jungle highlands about 20 miles east of Burma) locals caught nutrias (basically king-sized rats). They'd impale them on tree branches, then barbeque and eat them. But I never even saw any goats - alive or cooked. We lived exclusively off of the local economy and ate at the same places as did the locals.
The food there mirrored the cultural mix of the area's residents - a mix of Northern Thai, Burmese, Pakistani, Indian and Laotian. There were always new and different foods (and drink) to sample. My girlfriend - whose lineage was an exotic combination of Burmese and French - liked that I was adventurous, so she took me to many off-the-beaten path places - places GI's were warned not to visit.
We visited a wat (Buddhist temple) near Mae Chan, 10 miles from the Burma border, that was over 1,500 years old. Inside was a 8' tall statue of Buddha coated in gold leaf that had been applied, over the many centuries, by worshipers who melted the gold leaf into the statue with a candle. My girlfriend told me that gold was more than 2" thick.
From that wat, we travelled on to Mae Sai on the Thai/Burma border, but no further. My girlfriend told me it was too dangerous to cross into Burma - the opium/heroin traffickers were known to kidnap and "dispose of" strangers who ventured there. I believed her. [My friend, a Chiang Mai-based USAID agent (a cover for his CIA employment), later told me why my girlfriend was so knowledgeable about that area. She was the daughter of a mid-level opium lord who lived near Mae Sai. My friend had reason to know this - he was responsible for coordinating opium/heroin smuggling from Burma to Chiang Mai, and then on to Bangkok for international trafficking to Europe and the US.]
Those are some seriously foul critters.
