What was the name of the 1997 crash that began with Thailand’s currency devaluation and spread across Asian markets?

The 1997 crash that began with Thailand’s currency devaluation and spread across Asian markets was the Asian financial crisis.

Thailand abandoned the baht’s fixed exchange-rate policy on July 2, 1997, after intense pressure on its foreign-exchange reserves. The baht then lost substantial value, and investors reassessed other economies that had large foreign-currency debts, property booms, or vulnerable banking systems.

The turmoil spread to Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, while financial markets elsewhere also reacted. Stock prices fell sharply, businesses struggled to repay dollar-denominated loans, and several countries sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

The crisis was not simply a stock-market event. Currency collapses, banking problems, corporate debt, and investor withdrawals reinforced one another. It is sometimes called the Asian currency crisis, but “Asian financial crisis” is the broad standard name for the interconnected episode.