Thai-Myanmar border trade at a checkpoint was expected to hit about 8.5 billion baht (277 mln US dollars) in the first quarter of this year, a Thai chief immigration officer unveiled Monday morning, local media Komchadluek reported.

According to Pongthep Buathap, the chief immigration officer at Thailand's Maesod-Myanmar's Myawaddy cross-border check point, the two countries' border trade has shown steady growth since January.

The first month of this year witnessed trading volume of some 2. 8 billion baht (91 mln US dollars) and the figure increased to about 3 billion baht (97.6 mln US dollars) in February.

The immigration chief anticipated that the trading amount would surpass 3 billion baht in March and as the result, trading volume in Quarter 1 could accumulate to 8.5 billion baht. Continuous growth resumed this year thanks to improvement in Myanmar domestic politics, he added.

Among products that Myanmar imported the most include fuels and commodities as the country needs for economic development, he said.