Laem Pho Beach in the district is thought to have been a Srivijaya Kingdom seaport in the 7th to 13th centuries. Srivijaya was an Indonesian city-state that grew to become an influential maritime power in what is now Southeast Asia. Tang Dynasty ceramics have been found in the area as well as pottery from India and glassware from Persia. Similar finds have been made in Ban Thung Tuek, Takua Pa District, Phang Nga Province on the other side of the isthmus, 200 km distant, indicating that there may have been an overland route connecting the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Seacoast. This route would have enabled traders to avoid piracy in the narrow Strait of Malacca. The name Chaiya might be derived from its original Malay namecahaya, meaning 'light', 'gleam', or 'glow'. Some scholars identify Chai-ya as coming from Sri-vi- ja-ya. Wat Phra Borommathat is centered on a reconstructed stupa in Srivijaya-style. The nearby branch of the National Museum has several relics of that time on display. Two more former stupas nearby are now only brick mounds. Inscription 23, as it was labeled by Prince Damrong in his Collected Inscriptions of Siam, is now attributed to Wat Hua Wiang in Chaiya. Dated to the year 697 of the Mahasakkarat era, the inscription on a Bai Sema shaped stone tells about the King of Srivijaya having erected three stupas at that site and possibly the one at Wat Phra Borom That. Another important temple near Chaiya is Wat Suan Mohkha Phalaram, a forest temple. The temple was founded in 1932 by Phra Buddhadasa, a revered Buddhist teacher. In 1959 the temple was relocated to the present 380 rai site. These temples are believed to have been used to store rice in large quantities, due to the invading Japanese. These large Buddhist rice temples are rare in the region and only one has been officially labeled as a rice storage temple.
Chaiya District is divided into nine sub-districts. These are further divided into 54 villages. There are three sub-district municipalities : Talat Chaiya includes most of tambon Talat Chaiya and parts of Lamet; Phumriang the entire tambon Phumriang; Wiang the entire tambon of Wiang. The other six sub-districts each have a tambon administrative organization as their local government.
