The name "Tanah Merah" appears in the seventeenth century (1604) map by Manuel Godinho de Erédia on Singapore, written as Tana Mera.

The presence of weathered lateritic soil provided the red-orange colouring of the area that led to its name even before Raffles' founding of Singapore.

The exposed red lateritic soils were probably visible to many passing boats and hence the "landmark" was captured in early maps of Singapore.

When land reclamation works began in the early 1970s, most of the coastal hills were levelled and dumped into the sea to create the present East Coast.

Tanah Merah Besar was a large coastal cliff located approximately at the southern end of Changi Airport Terminal 3.

New Upper Changi Road, which runs through the residential area of Tanah Merah, offers a number of bus services, some of which travel long distances.

The bus stops next to Tanah Merah MRT station are usual pick-up and drop-off points for buses which take passengers to nearby places such as National Service Resort & Country Club and Changi Naval Base.

By sea, it is also home to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal with regular service to the Indonesian Riau Islands, as well as Sebana Cove and Tanjung Pengelih in Malaysia.