Thailand's stock market and currency crisis in 1997 helped trigger the Asian financial crisis.
The immediate spark came on July 2, 1997, when Thailand was forced to float the baht after exhausting foreign-currency reserves defending its peg to the U.S. dollar. The baht then lost value rapidly, prompting capital flight and exposing the vulnerability of Thai banks, finance companies, property firms, and heavily indebted businesses.
The shock spread across Southeast and East Asia through trade, investment, and investor sentiment. Indonesia and South Korea were among the hardest-hit economies, while Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and other markets also suffered. Japan was affected, but it was not the origin of the crisis.
The crisis is sometimes described as beginning with speculative attacks in May, but Thailand remains the canonical quiz answer because the regional breakdown became unmistakable when the baht was floated in July. The International Monetary Fund later assembled rescue programs for Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea. Thailand's crisis is also known locally as the Tom Yum Kung crisis.