SUPAVUD SAICHEUA is currently an Advisor of Kiatnakin Phatra Financial Group. He was the Managing Director of Phatra Capital Public Company Limited (since 1 January 2011- January 2017) and also was the Managing Director and Head of Research of Phatra Securities Public Company Limited. Prior to that, he held the same position at Merrill Lynch Phatra Securities Company Limited. Phatra is a new entity created after a management buyout of Merrill Lynch Phatra. While Merrill Lynch no longer holds a stake in Phatra, the two companies are commercially linked via a business agreement that provides for revenue-sharing. A research agreement between Phatra and Merrill Lynch means that the two companies co-produce research on the Thai economy, equity strategy and major Thai stocks.

Supavud was also appointed advisor to the Minister of Finance during February to September 2001. He also served as Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs from September to November 1997. He assisted then-Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra on various economic & political issues including privatization of public enterprises.

Supavud served as Executive Vice President of Phatra Securities Co., Ltd. from December 1997 to July 1998. He held the same position in the Phatra Research Institute at Phatra Thanakit PLC from January-August 1997. Prior to joining Phatra Thanakit PLC in May 1994, he was Director of the South Pacific Division of the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Between March 1991 and July 1992, Supavud served as the Head of the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Assisting the Permanent Secretary on matters relating to key policy matters of the Ministry, Supavud specialized in international economic issues at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels.

Supavud earlier served at the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 1986-1990 in the capacity of economic officer. In Washington, he took part in negotiations on key trade issues between Thailand and the United States such as GSP, intellectual property protection, textiles, agricultural products and several Section 301 cases.  He also monitored and analyzed trade legislation and reported on the state of the US economy.

Prior to his post in Washington, Supavud was Second Secretary at the Department of Economic Affairs between 1984-86 where he worked on Thai-US economic relations as well as multilateral issues such as the launching of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, textiles negotiations under the Multi-Fiber Arrangement and economic cooperation in ASEAN.

Supavud received his Bachelor of Arts with Honors in economics from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 1977, a Master of Arts degree in economics from the University of the Philippines (Diliman) in 1981 and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, U.S.A. in 1984.