Spare a thought for the humble kip - the currency of Laos, the region's smallest economy.
In the months after the Southeast Asian economic meltdown, the currency has fallen against the rival Vietnamese dong and has even weakened next to a wounded Thai baht.
A year ago it was worth 980 to one US dollar. Now it is worth 2,480 and falling.
Like the dong, the kip is governed ultimately by the most shadowy of Communist Party politics rather than market realities. Not surprisingly, neither is tradable internationally.
For a while, isolation insulated both currencies from the worst of the slides of the past eight months. However, strange things are now happening in the trading posts and gold shops of the region's more mysterious corners.
Vast black markets have developed in Hanoi and Vientiane despite the best efforts of both governments to restore confidence.
In Laos, the trade for the slimmest of margins takes place in considerable secrecy in the back rooms of shops and restaurants. Rumours are flying of frequent police roundups and detentions of foreigners.
