What was the name of the 1997 market crash that began with Thailand’s currency devaluation and spread across East Asia?

The 1997 market crash that began with Thailand’s currency devaluation was the Asian financial crisis.

Thailand abandoned its fixed exchange-rate arrangement for the baht on July 2, 1997, after intense pressure on its foreign-exchange reserves. The baht then depreciated sharply. Investors reassessed other economies with fixed or managed exchange rates, high foreign-currency debts, large current-account deficits, or fragile banking systems.

Financial stress spread to Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, while stock markets and currencies lost substantial value. Companies and banks that had borrowed in U.S. dollars faced much larger repayment burdens after local currencies weakened. The International Monetary Fund arranged assistance packages, notably for Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea.

The crisis was regional rather than limited to stock exchanges. It combined currency collapses, banking distress, falling asset prices, recession, and political upheaval. Hong Kong’s currency peg survived, although its stock market suffered a major decline.