Thailand ? Foreign investors bailed out of the Thai stock market in droves Tuesday, forcing Thailand’s military government to abandon just-announced measures aimed at stemming the country’s surging currency.

The Thai government said it would lift controls – announced a day earlier – on foreign investment in stocks after the market plunged nearly 15 percent, rattling regional exchanges amid worries about a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Jittery investors dumped stocks in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines.

By late Tuesday, Thai authorities capitulated on controls on stock investments. Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula said the measures would remain on foreign investments in bonds and commercial paper, however, as part of the central bank’s measures to weaken the Thai baht, which hit a nine-year high versus the dollar Monday.