In 1997-98, was the start of the Asian Financial Crisis the crash began in Thailand and then spread to neighboring economies. The crisis began as a currency crisis when the exchange rate between the Thai Baht and the US Dollar no longer existed. This caused a number of currency devaluations and massive flights of capital. In the first six months, the Thai Baht's value was down 50 percent along with the Indonesian rupiah down 80 percent. The crisis was alleviated by intervention from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank which poured $118 billion into Thailand, Indonesia, and South Korea to help their economies recover. The causes of the crisis were caused in several ways such as industrial, financial, and monetary government policies and investment trends. When the crisis started markets reacted strongly. Due to the economic crisis, many businesses and jobs were wiped out and lost which really shook the economy's foundation. Before the economic crisis the Thai economy was booming, but when the crash hit there were many layoffs in finance, real estate, and construction. This caused many people to move back to the countryside and out of the cities. Poverty and unemployment increased as wages decreased. By 2001, the Thai economy had recovered. Tumi saw the impact the crash had on the country and saw that she had much better opportunities in Boston for work and money.