BANGKOK - THE wife of Thailand's ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra was released on bail on Tuesday, after she returned to the kingdom to defend corruption charges against her, the Supreme Court said in a statement.

Pojaman Shinawatra was released on bail of five million baht (S$215,156), and ordered not to leave the country without the court's permission, said the statement issued after a hearing that lasted less than an hour.

The court also set Jan 23 as the opening date for her trial on charges of using her husband's political influence to buy prime Bangkok real estate from a government agency at one-third its estimated value.

One of Mr Thaksin's top political allies, Chaowarin Latthasaksiri, met her at the airport and said she was taken to a VIP immigration room to be presented with the charges and the warrant against her.

Deputy national police chief Watcharaphon Prasarnratchakit said that police then escorted her to the Supreme Court to hear the charges before judges.

Mr Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile since the military toppled his government in a bloodless coup in September 2006, but says he plans to return to the kingdom by April once a new government is installed.

His allies emerged from elections last month just shy of a majority in parliament, but the military-appointed Election Commission has opened dozens of vote fraud investigations that threaten their ability to form a new government.

Mr Thaksin has also been charged in the case, and both have denied any wrongdoing.

Their youngest daughter Paetongtarn, a university student in Bangkok, was seen waiting for her mother at the court.

Both Ms Pojaman and Mr Thaksin also face separate criminal charges accusing them of fraudulent filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission over the 2003 listing of a property company.

Ms Pojaman, her step-brother Banpot Damapong and her personal secretary Kanchanapa Honghern also face additional criminal charges of tax evasion. -- AFP