What was the name of the 1997 crisis that began with Thailand’s baht devaluation and spread across Asian stock markets?

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

Thailand abandoned its fixed exchange-rate policy on July 2, 1997, allowing the baht to fall sharply. Investors then reassessed other economies whose currencies, banks, and companies carried substantial foreign-currency debt. Pressure spread to Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other markets, producing currency collapses, stock-market falls, bankruptcies, and recessions.

The crisis was not simply a stock-market event. Exchange-rate systems, bank lending, property speculation, and short-term foreign borrowing all played important roles. The International Monetary Fund organized assistance packages for several affected countries, though the conditions attached to those programs remained controversial.

It is often called the Asian financial crisis rather than the Asian stock-market crash because currencies and banking systems were central to the turmoil. Hong Kong’s market was also hit, and the crisis contributed to the global market shock of October 1997. Japan faced serious financial weakness during the same period, but its problems had begun earlier.