Notable people from Palai include:
Sports
Commerce and industry
-Founder Director of Palai Central Bank.
Movies
- Bhadran, movie director
- Miss Kumari, Malayalam actress in leading roles
- Suvarna Mathew, actress
- Ponnamma Babu, actress
- Pala Thankam, actress
- Miya (Gimi George), actress
- Mani C. Kappan, director, producer, actor
- Rimi Tomy, singer
- Meenakshi Anoop , actress
- Listin Stephen, film producer
- Chali Pala, actor
Journalists