The modern Spanish spelling Panabá derives from the placename in the Yucatec Maya language, Panab' ha, meaning "[place of] water found by digging".

[1] Pre-Columbian ruins have been discovered on a site in the village of Panabá showing that this place was inhabited during the pre-Hispanic period by Indians in the province of Domes.

[1] One medical unit of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) is found in Panabá, in addition to private care.

Typical housing in the region is constructed from wooden posts with wattle and daub walls (locally known as bajareques) and roofed with Huan, (long narrow plant leaves), however most are built with concrete blocks, cement, wood and sheet-metal.

Country people, especially the elderly, dress in baggy trousers made from blanket material, a shirt buttoned down the front, an apron of ticking and a straw hat.

The men wear white straight cut pants, jackets without lapels (locally called Filipino jackets) made of fine material, the better one having gold buttons, espadrilles and jipijapa hats, without forgetting the traditional red scarf popularly known as a bandana and essential for the jarana, a local dance.

The savory cuisine of the region is composed of pork, chicken and venison, with spicy sauces with a base of habanero chilli and maize.