IT all started on July 2, 10 years ago. On that day, Thailand’s Finance Minister, Thanong Bidaya, and central bank governor, Rerngchai Marakanond, announced the government’s decision to let the exchange rate of the baht, the country’s currency, to free float.

The decision represented a white flag waved by the central bank after six months of spending billions of dollars to protect the baht’s value against attacks by speculators. Consequ