The 64-year-old Briton, whose real name is Paul Gadd, flew to Bangkok on Tuesday after being booted out of communist Vietnam at the end of nearly three years in jail for sexually abusing two girls.

Apparently fearful of the hostile reception he is likely to receive in Britain, where he has served time for child pornography offences, he avoided boarding the connecting flight to London by claiming he was too sick to fly.

After conducting medical checks and letting him wander, officially "persona non grata," for nearly 24 hours inside Bangkok airport, Thailand's immigration chiefs finally ran out of patience.

"We are barring entry to Paul Francis Gadd and will be deporting him to his home country, England, unconditionally and even if he does not wish to board the plane," they said in a statement.

"We are now waiting to return him to England as soon as possible."

Glitter turned up at Bangkok airport sporting a long white goatee beard and with his face partially hidden by a faded denim baseball cap and a battered pair of spectacles.

After holing up for more than 12 hours in a transit lounge rest area called the Louis Tavern, he disappeared through a fire-door into the bowels of the airport escorted by a dozen immigration and airport officials.

He smiled at reporters tailing him but declined to say anything, other than that he was "fine."

The British tabloid press, which had more than a dozen reporters on his Thai Airways flight from Vietnam, said he had collapsed in a bedroom at the Tavern, complaining of heart problems and demanding hospital treatment.

Despite huge interest in the story in Britain, he managed to shake off many of the British reporters in Bangkok.

They had checked their bags through to London and so had to take the onward flight on Tuesday.

After three years in a Vietnamese jail, Glitter had nothing more than his passport and a small amount of hand luggage.

In a prison interview with an official Vietnamese newspaper shortly before his release, Glitter said he wanted to go to Singapore or Hong Kong to revive his music career, although few countries would be happy to have him.

He is blacklisted in Cambodia, where he spent several years in hiding before moving quietly to Vietnam.

The British press eventually unearthed him in 2005 in the southern resort town of Vung Tau.

He tried to flee, but was arrested at the airport and convicted soon afterwards of having sex with two young girls.

He is best known for his bouffant 1970s hairstyle, high heels and hits such as "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 & 2)," "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I am)."

Nampa Reuters

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