The other 10 major nagaris are Tarusan, Pasarbaru, Salido, Painan, Pasar Kuok (or Batang Kapas), Kambang, Balai Selasa, Air Haji, Indrapura, and Tapan—in that order from north to south, where Surantih is situated between Batang Kapas and Kambang.
It is geographically closer to Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, than to Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia).
A road has been built to this village, but the condition is poor; it takes 3–4 hours to cover a distance of 30 km to reach Langgai from Pasar Surantih.
[3] The population is virtually 100% Moslem with occasionally a few non-Moslems from other provinces residing in the area temporarily, normally civil servants.
While Moslems in this area are generally not as devout as others from other parts of West Sumatra, it is important to not to do anything that is against Islam and traditional local values.
For the younger generation, leaving home is a must if they want to continue studying at university level (or senior high school until very recently).
Generally, West Sumatrans/Minangkabau people considered Pesisir Selatan district a backward area, due to a lag in economic development, education level, and other measures.
A senior high school was also built in early 2000 which allows locals to finish the first 12 years of basic education without leaving their village for the district's capital.
A football field which hosts other sports and social activities, such as concerts or movies, is situated 200m-300m from Pasar Surantih market.
These local cafes/warungs are open till midnight, located in the main street, just the opposite of the wet market.
There is no hotel or hostel, but there is a local shop owner who allows people to stay at the second storey of his house for two thousand Rupiah (e.g. US$1 or 2).
Surantih, by and large, resembles the average of the district's physical appearance, it is quite fair to assume that a similar proportion of local population live below the national poverty line.
However, it is said that most of the local officials tend to mark up the number of poor families in order to get special subsidy from central government.