The Bandaw is a percussive instrument of the drum type that came from India. It is a small double-face drum with the length of not more than 16 centimeters. The two faces are about 14 centimeters in diameter. The body of the drum is made of hard wood with the sides tapering in to the center, similar to an hourglass.
         The two faces of the drum are tensioned with leather thongs and pulled in and fastened at the center known as the Rad-ok. A post made of wood of a Chedi (pagoda) shape with circular base and tapering end is attached to one side of the tapering center of the drum. It is called Maai Hua Med Song Mun (ไม้หัวเม็ดทรงมัณฑ์). A cord is fastened to the top of the Chedi-shaped post. At the other end of the cord a wooden or crystal ball is fastened. When the musician swings the drum, this ball strikes against the left and right faces of the drum alternately and produce musical sounds in rhythmic harmony with the Saw Sam Sai and the singing voice.
         The Bandaw is not played with the hands or the fingers.  The musician places the tapering part of a drum on each palm and uses fingers to support it. The Bandaw is played in a set of 2 drums using the right and left hands. To produce the musical sound, the musician stretches both hands in front of the body at the chest level, then moves both hands simultaneously to swing the drums to the left and right alternately. The way the drum swings resembles the Arabic numeral 8 in parallel to the ground. By swinging the drums the balls will strike the faces of the drums and produce rhythmic musical sound. The skillful players can swing the drums simultaneously which produces very beautiful musical sound when the balls strike both of the drums simultaneously. Sometimes, only one drum can be used, but it is not as perfect as playing the two drums simultaneously.
         The Bandaw that the Thai people use was formerly used by the Brahmans in ceremonial rites. The players need hard practice to be able to swing the drums beautifully and produce beautiful sounds. The Bandaw is used as a musical instrument only in the Khab Maai Bandaw ensemble. The songs that use the Bandaw are mostly ceremonial songs to celebrate significant occasions, such as to celebrate the Emerald Buddha or to celebrate the Royal White Elephant (the lullaby for elephant), etc.