Bang Bai Mai

Bang Bai Mai is a canal-side subdistrict in Mueang Surat Thani District, Surat Thani Province, southern Thailand, located along Khlong Bang Bai Mai near the Tapi River south of Surat Thani city. It is notable as a traditional coconut-growing community preserving a waterside way of life with stilt houses, coconut plantations and small canals. The area is known for community-based tourism, weekend floating market, boat tours and local coconut products.

Visitors can expect a quiet rural canal community with coconut groves, stilt houses along Khlong Bang Bai Mai, and small waterways branching from the Tapi River. The area is explored mainly by long-tail boat tours through coconut plantations and local villages. On weekends, a small floating market offers local food and coconut-based products. The setting is residential and agricultural, with boat piers, local shops and community tourism facilities.

Bang Bai Mai is a long-established canal community along Khlong Bang Bai Mai, historically developed around coconut cultivation and riverine transport connected to the Tapi River. The settlement reflects traditional southern Thai waterside living with canals used for transport, agriculture and daily life before road networks expanded.

The subdistrict represents a preserved southern Thai canal culture centered on coconut farming and waterside community life. It is promoted as a community-based tourism village where local residents share traditional coconut processing, local cuisine and canal lifestyle with visitors.