Since 2005, the Kenan Institute Asia (KIAsia) in Thailand, and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise (KIPE) have partnered to implement the "Tsunami Recovery Action Initiative" in response to the December 26, 2004 tsunami disaster that devastated coastal communities in southern Thailand. With funding from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust and KIPE, the Initiative is focusing on promoting sustainable tourism on the Andaman coast of the Phang-nga province. For more information on TRAI, please visit www.kiasia.org/trai

In 2009, the TRAI interns will join K.I.Asia staff to implement programming with a focus on marketing, tourism planning and entrepreneurship. In total there are up to twenty different opportunities covering six program areas: 1) developing a tourism master plan; 2) establishing tourism information centers; 3) supporting student entrepreneurs; 4) marketing the ‘green season”; 5) developing community-based tourism; and, 6) conducting program evaluation. Multi-disciplinary interns are being sought from the Kenan-Flagler Business School, School of Information and Library Science (SILS), and other faculties and schools.

The internship periods last from May 21 – July 31, 2009. The first week will be spent in an orientation which includes sessions on the TRAI program, Thailand tourism, living in Thailand and language and culture. The following nine weeks are spent on the assignments with a final presentation Bangkok before the end of July. In-country funding for the interns will be covered by the Kenan TRAI programs. Funding for airfares must be acquired. The Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise has a limited amount of funding for airfares. For more details, please review the detailed internship descriptions.