Bangkok  - Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday started hearings against ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Potjaman in the first corruption case to be successfully lodged against the controversial billionaire politician.

Neither Thaksin nor his wife appeared in court.

The case was opened on April 29, when Thaksin appeared before the Supreme Court for Political Offences and denied charges that he abused his power by allowing his wife to purchase a p[lot of land at a government auction in 2003 when Thaksin was still premier.

On Tuesday the court heard testimony from Chart Thai party leader and former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa and opposition politician Chuan Leekpai, also a former premier.

The prosecution alleged the 772 million baht (23 million dollars) they paid for the land was far less than the market price.

Thaksin was toppled by a coup on September 19, 2006, on charges of corruption, dividing the nation and undermining the monarchy.

A billionaire businessman who made his fortune from government telecommunication concessions, he lived in self-exile for 17 months after the coup, only returning in February when a newly elected government filled with his political allies took office.

Thaksin continues to be a highly divisive figure in Thailand's political scene.

His populist policies were designed to win him votes but also empowered Thailand's rural poor and ended up threatening Thailand's political elite.

On the other hand, his self-seeking business deals while in power have diminished his contribution to the democratic process.

"He's just a walking contradiction," said Thitinan Phongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. "But even if you eliminate Thaksin form the political picture he has indelibly changed Thai politics. Thailand will never be the same." (dpa)