Thailand’s stock exchange saw the SET Index plunge during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
The crisis began in Thailand after pressure on the baht forced the government to abandon its fixed exchange-rate arrangement on 2 July 1997. Currency depreciation damaged companies and banks that had borrowed heavily in foreign currencies, while investors rapidly withdrew capital from the country.
The financial shock spread across East and Southeast Asia. Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and other economies experienced currency collapses, market declines, corporate failures, and banking stress. International Monetary Fund programs provided assistance to several affected countries, although the conditions attached to those programs became politically controversial.
Thailand is the correct starting point for this crisis, but it was not the only country affected. The episode is therefore often described as a regional financial crisis rather than a single-country stock-market crash. Its effects also reached global markets and commodity prices.