Thailand’s baht was devalued during the opening phase of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Thailand abandoned its managed exchange-rate regime on July 2, 1997, allowing the baht to float after intense pressure from currency speculators and falling foreign-exchange reserves. The currency then lost substantial value.
The crisis spread across East and Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s rupiah, South Korea’s won, Malaysia’s ringgit, and other currencies came under pressure, while stock markets and property markets also declined. Many economies had borrowed heavily in foreign currencies, making repayment much more expensive after devaluation.
The International Monetary Fund arranged assistance programs for Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea, often tied to financial and economic reforms. The crisis is sometimes called the Asian currency crisis, but it involved banking failures, corporate debt, exchange rates, and investment losses—not only currency movements.