Cherd studied filmmaking in the late 1960s at the University of California Los Angeles, and trained under director Walter Doniger at Burbank Studios.

It shared the Golden Montgolfiere at the Nantes Three Continents Festival with They Don't Wear Black-tie by Brazilian director Leon Hirszman.

It was also voted as one of the world's 360 classic movies by the Museum of the Moving Image in London, Sight & Sound magazine and film directors and critics worldwide in 1998.

His subsequent films followed the same pattern as Plae Kao – romantic tragedies set against a backdrop of historical, rural Thailand.

Among his other works are Puen Pang (1987), about two sisters in love with the same man; Muen and Rid (1994), a true story from Rama IV-era Siam about a woman who petitioned King Mongkut to make equal rights for women; and Tawipob (1990), the first film adaptation of a novel by Thommayanti, about a modern-day socialite who time travels back to Rama V-era Siam and becomes involved in the political and diplomatic intrigue of the day.

In addition to filmmaking, Cherd was an active attendee of major international film festivals, such as Cannes, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

He battled cancer the last four years of his life, writing the book, Bantuek Kab Kwam-tai (A Diary of Death).