BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG) - Thailand named Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol as secretary general of the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), appointing a woman to run the market regulator for the first time.

Ms Ruenvadee, who is currently the director general of the Legal Execution Department at the Ministry of Justice, will begin her new position on May 1, according to a statement on the government's website.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's Cabinet approved her appointment on Tuesday (Dec 25).

Ms Ruenvadee, 54, has a law degree from Harvard University and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This appointment marks her return to the SEC, where she was well-known to the public and media as a spokeswoman.

The SEC was set up in 1992 to supervise and develop the Thai capital market, according to its website.