MANILA - President Arroyo is set to go to Thailand to attend the 15th annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) even as another powerful typhoon is threatening to hit the northern part of the country.

Her departure which is set this week comes as the country prepares for Typhoon Ramil (international code name Lupit), seen to hit the already ravaged Northern Luzon.

Leaders attending the 15th annual summit, being held in Hua Hin, where Thailand's revered king often resides, are due to discuss closer economic ties and ways of coping with natural disasters.

The summit would include talks between the 10 ASEAN members and the leaders of China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Presidential economic affairs spokesperson Gary Olivar meanwhile defended the President's travel despite the imminent typhoon.

"In terms of her physical safety, I'm sure that [state weather bureau] PAGASA will be coordinating with her appointments people. In terms of being on the ground, if and when calamity happens - should it happen - I think the President is confident that she has very capable people on the ground to represent her," Olivar told reporters.

"What should be done will be done. Of course, led by the chairman of the NDCC [National Disaster Coordinating Council] ang ating... kalihim ng tanggulang pambansa, si Gilbert Teodoro," Olivar added.

PAGASA on Monday said residents of Cagayan and Isabela provinces should brace for the effects of Typhoon Ramil (international code name Lupit), which is expected to make landfall by Thursday morning.

PAGASA said that as of 5 p.m., Ramil was packing 195 kilometers per hour winds near the center and gusts of up to 230 kph. The storm remained quasi-stationary at 1,070 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan.

Summit from Oct 21-25

The 15th ASEAN summit is scheduled on October 21 to 25, but the official opening of the summit of the leaders will be on the 23rd.

Myanmar's prime minister, General Thein Sein, will attend the summit, an official announced Monday, confirming a state media report.

"General Thein Sein will attend the ASEAN summit," said the official on condition of anonymity.

His trip to Thailand comes as the junta appears to be opening up diplomatic channels abroad, with Thein Sein last month becoming the highest-ranking Myanmar official to attend the United Nations General Assembly in 14 years.

The prime minister made a speech before the assembly on September 28, condemning Western economic sanctions against his country as the United States mulls greater engagement with the reclusive government.

In 2007, Thein Sein caused a diplomatic furore at an ASEAN summit by forcing host Singapore to revoke an invitation to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

Gambari had been due to brief regional leaders after a bloody crackdown on street protests in Myanmar that caused international revulsion.

Myanmar's human rights record has caused constant problems for ASEAN since it joined the bloc in 1997. This year's summit is due to officially launch a new body to help prevent rights abuses in the region.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. With reports from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News, and the Agence France-Presse