Editing Economy of Thailand (section)

====1997–2000====
[[File:Asian Financial Crisis EN vector.svg|thumb|Countries affected by the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]]]]
The Thai economy collapsed as a result of the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]]. Within a few months, the value of the baht floated from THB25/US$ (its lowest point) to THB56/US$. The [[Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)]] dropped from a peak of 1,753.73 in 1994 to a low of 207.31 in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|title=โล่งแผนคุมบาทไม่เอี่ยวกระทบหุ้น SET ติดปีก ดัชนีดีดบวก 14 จุด|url=http://www.manager.co.th/StockMarket/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000143191|publisher=Manager Online|access-date=27 August 2012|archive-date=1 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101152259/http://www.manager.co.th/StockMarket/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000143191|url-status=dead}}</ref> The country's GDP dropped from THB3.115&nbsp; trillion at the end of 1996 to THB2.749&nbsp; trillion at the end of 1998. In dollar terms, it took Thailand as long as 10 years to regain its 1996 GDP. The unemployment rate went up nearly threefold: from 1.5 percent of the labor force in 1996 to 4.4 percent in 1998.<ref name="Thailand">{{cite web |title=Thailand |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=1995&ey=2007&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=24&pr1.y=13&c=578&s=NGDP_R%2CNGDP_RPCH%2CNGDPD%2CTX_RPCH%2CLUR%2CBCA%2CBCA_NGDPD&grp=0&a= |access-date=27 August 2012 |work=World Economic Outlook Database |publisher=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>

A sharp decrease in the value of the baht abruptly increased foreign debt, undermining financial institutions. Many were sold, in part, to foreign investors while others went bankrupt. Due to low international reserves from the Bank of Thailand's currency-protection measures, the government had to accept a loan from the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF). Overall, Thailand received US$17.2&nbsp;billion in [[aid]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Recovery from the Asian Crisis and the Role of the IMF|url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2000/062300.htm#box1|publisher=International Monetary Fund|access-date=27 August 2012}}</ref>

The crisis impacted Thai politics. One direct effect was that Prime Minister [[Chavalit Yongchaiyudh]] resigned under pressure on 6 November 1997, succeeded by opposition leader [[Chuan Leekpai]]. The second Leekpai government, in office from November 1997 to February 2001, tried to implement economic reforms based on IMF-guided [[Neoliberalism|neo-liberal capitalism]]. It pursued strict fiscal policies (keeping interest rates high and cutting government spending), enacting 11 laws it called "bitter medicine" and critics called "the 11 nation-selling laws". The Thai government and its supporters maintained that with these measures, the Thai economy improved.

In 1999, Thailand had a positive GDP growth rate for the first time since the crisis.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} Many critics, however, mistrusted the IMF and maintained that government-spending cuts harmed the recovery. Unlike economic problems in Latin America and Africa, they asserted, the Asian financial crisis was born in the private sector and the IMF measures were inappropriate. The positive growth rate in 1999 was because the country's GDP had gone down for two consecutive years, as much as −10.5 percent in 1998 alone. In terms of the baht, it was not until 2002 (in dollar terms, not until 2006) that Thailand would regain its 1996 GDP. An additional 1999 loan from the Miyazawa Plan made the question of whether (or to what extent) the Leekpai government helped the Thai economy controversial.