Thailand’s currency crisis triggered the 1997 Asian financial crisis and major stock-market falls.
On July 2, 1997, Thailand abandoned its defense of the baht’s exchange rate and allowed the currency to float. The baht then depreciated sharply, helping set off financial pressure across several Asian economies.
The crisis spread through countries including Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Problems included large foreign-currency debts, weak financial institutions, property-market bubbles, and heavy reliance on short-term capital inflows.
Thailand is the correct country, but the crisis was regional rather than purely Thai. The International Monetary Fund organized assistance programs for several affected economies, while stock markets and currencies fell sharply across the region.