luable, it will wreck the country's exports because Thai goods will become too expensive. In an effort to prevent Thai money from becoming too valuable, the Thai government imposed a 30% tax on inbound foreign currencies and BAM, their stock market crashed.

Mine was the ONLY web site in the world that reported China starting to dump the One TRILLION U.S. Dollars in cash it holds. Know-it-alls balked that my story couldn't possibly be true. I wonder ~ Hal Turner

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Thai stocks have suffered their worst losses in more than 30 years as panicking investors fled the market after the central bank imposed draconian measures in an effort to halt the baht's rise.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index plummeted 108.41 points, the biggest one day drop in the 31-year history of the bourse, or 14.84 percent to close at 622.14.

The one day market losses amounted to 816 billion baht (23 billion dollars), according to the SET.

"Investors were really spooked by the new measures," said Sukhbir Khanijoh, a senior market analyst at Kasikorn Securities.

"What we saw today was panic selling and foreign investors were not only confused about the new measures but were worried that the government would announce further tough economic measures," he said.

Losers far outnumbered gainers 460 to eight, with 13 stocks unchanged on turnover of 7.1 billion shares worth 72.13 billion baht (two billion dollars), according to updated figures.

The Thai baht closed at 35.85-90 to the dollar, after hitting a new nine-year high of 35.12 on Monday. The baht has jumped by 14 percent since the start of this year.

The bluechip SET 50 index also dropped 77.75 points to 434.25.

"Investors were really scared by the central bank's measures. Short-term investors were fleeing the Thai stock market," said Tarisa Chaisuntornyotin, a senior market analyst at Siam City Securities.

"Selling was just massive. We never saw anything like this before," Tarisa added.

Before the market's opening, Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula hailed the new regulations, the harshest capital controls since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, "as the best ever measures" taken by the Bank of Thailand.

Pridiyathorn, who was the central bank governor under the administration of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, faced growing pressure from Thai exporters calling on the army-backed government to curb the soaring local currency.

The strong baht makes Thai exports less competitive in overseas markets and slashes the value of companies' repatriated profits. Thai exports account for 65 percent of the Thai economy.

In the face of Tuesday's unprecedented losses, the Stock Exchange of Thailand asked the central bank to "reconsider" the new currency control measures, but the central bank immediately rejected the request.

"The Thai baht rose mainly due to capital inflows. You have capital inflows because the Thai stock market is also going up this year," said Bob Broadfoot, managing director of Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong.

"International investors were betting the Thai currency would appreciate and that's why we saw more capital inflows," he said.

Foreign investors account for 40 percent of the Thai stock market with 50 percent from domestic investors and 10 percent from institutional investors.

The central bank said Monday financial institutions would be required, from Tuesday, to withhold 30 percent of foreign currencies coming into the baht, except those related to exports.

If such funds were kept in the country for a year, the depositor would get all their money back.

But if investors wanted to withdraw funds earlier, then the 30 percent would be kept, making it virtually impossible for any short-term investors to make a gain.

The worst stock losses in Bangkok were an unsettling echo of the Asian financial crisis which was sparked when the Thai government was forced to float the baht in July 1997 in a bid to bolster the country's then flagging exports.

The baht promptly crashed, took the Thai economy with it and sent a tidal wave of debt and default sweeping across the region which cost billions of dollars to put right.

The impact was so great that it has taken years for many regional stockmarkets to revisit pre-crisis levels and despite recent gains, Thailand's own bourse still remains far below its all-time high of 1,753.73 in January 1994.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Thai stock exchange suspended trading for 30 minutes after share prices plunged more than 10 percent in opening trade, but investors continued to dump shares following the resumption of trading.

Under current rules, if the stockmarket falls by 20 percent, the SET can suspend trading for one hour.