วารสารวิชาการนิติศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยทักษิณ

3) Speculative attacks and the floatation of Baht In May 1997 foreign speculators sensing the bubble was about to burst, attacked the Baht. The Thai government spent 90% of its foreign reserves to defend the Baht against the speculative attack. In a matter of days, the Baht fell from its peg at 25 Baht per dollar to about US$1 for 52 Baht. This had a catastrophic effect on the cost of repayment for the excessive number of foreign loans borrowed by Thai companies and financial institutions. Financial institutions became insolvent and Thai companies declared bankruptcy as the number of non-performing loans skyrocketed. Widespread panic by all stakeholders in the Thai economy led to offloading of Thai currency and quick-fire sales of shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. By December 31 1997, the SET had fallen from a level of 787 in January 1997 to 337. In response to the crisis, on July 2, 1997 the Thai government changed its exchange rate regime from a fixed exchange rate to a floating exchange rate. The Thai government also requested “technical assistance” from the IMF, and on 5 August 1997 Thailand received a $17 billion loan from the IMF and agrees to adopt tough economic measures in return. Key word : Corporate Governance, Corporate Disclosure and Transparency, Thai Financial Crisis of 1997 วารสารวิชาการนิติศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยทักษิณ ปีที่ 4 ฉบับที่ 6 มกราคม - ธันวาคม 2556 