"Where's the evidence?" the Thaksin camp has always been asking. This has become something of a rallying cry, with many sympathetic foreign editorials and bloggers dancing to this tune. Since he was toppled in the September 19 coup, Thaksin has been claming the corruption charges against him are all lies. He wanted the world to demand proof. He always argued that what he did while in power was legal and constitutional. But when evidence purported to show that he did break the law is about to be shown, Thaksin is crying foul.

Strategically, advanced knowledge of what the investigators have should benefit Thaksin. It should help his lawyers make necessary preparations. They would be able to know what documents the investigators feel are important, and what laws and regulations are being used against him. The only drawback, being blown out of proportion by his lawyers, is the bad publicity this will result in for the accused. But the other side of the coin is that the military junta and the interim government could have put him and his family through a summary probe, declared them guilty as sin one month after the coup and seized a large portion of their assets.

Thaksin and his lawyers should instead welcome this great opportunity to put everything on the table and let the people be the judge. If he is certain that there was nothing legally wrong with the purchase of the state-auctioned Ratchadaphisek land by his wife while he was prime minister, Thaksin should welcome the chance to know exactly why investigators do not agree. He should welcome the chance to scrutinise all evidence and inform the public which parts are "lies".

His lawyers are citing principles of criminal justice and repeatedly emphasising the rights of the suspects. They said the plan to make the investigation file public violated the rights of the accused. According to them, what the AEC is planning to do "is beyond the tradition of law". Coming from lawyers of a former leader under whose reign hundreds of drug suspects were shot dead without even being formally charged, this is simply ironic.

This is not a case where anyone can easily "plant" anything. His accusers have simple matters to prove: Was Thaksin aware of his wife's bid for the state land? And, if so, did that break the law? It's all about legal interpretation and documents that could never be doctored. If Thaksin thinks the investigators are misinterpreting the laws or the constitution, his lawyers can publicly rebut them in an instant. What makes him so scared, then?

It's time Thaksin faces legal accusations head-on, like a man. His tendency to politicise every case - trying to make them look like part of a conspiracy against him - was a major reason why Thailand ended up in this crisis. Instead of proving to Parliament and showing beyond a doubt that the Shin Corp-Temasek deal was not subject to tax, he chose to dissolve Parliament, hoping to win another election and thus get away with it. No corruption charges involving his family or Cabinet members had a chance to go through proper channels.

There were times in the past when the government collapsed simply because politicians bought plots of land set aside for farmers. Under him, the first family could do tricky share transfers to evade taxes and manage business transactions with the state despite the laws prohibiting it.

The Ratchadaphisek land case involved only about Bt700 million, but how it came about underlined most of the things that defied democratic principles while he was empowered. Instead of avoiding evidence like the plague, he should welcome the chance to confront it. We challenge him to prove he is right and his accusers wrong on this one.