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Tham Luang—Khun Nam Nang Norn cave complex in Chiang Rai province,Thailand, has been constellated with magic and cultural-natural deep history. The beliefs and practices of revering the mountain have been circulated among locals, especially the Tai Yai ethnic minority residing near the area. The mountain is believed to be animated by supernatural entities—one of which is a female ghost, Jaomae Nang Norn, whose legend became widespread in the rescue mission of The Wild Boars’ football players and their coach in June 2018. In this paper, I posit that Tham Luang cave and the ecological spiritualities surrounding it deal intimately with a multitude of ecocultural and spiritual influences. Beliefs rooted in the mystic power of the ghost spirits and practices of magio-animistic Buddhism create diverse responses to the landscape. It also opens up a liminal space in which the negotiation between local and national identity is juxtaposed. This liminal space represents the ecological realm of the mountain as a contested terrain for rural communities in resisting cultural dominance of Thai nation state.
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