Clockenflap: The life and near deaths of Pete Doherty, frontman of headliners The Libertines

The British singer last year finally kicked his heroin habit at a Thai rehab clinic. But with a world tour to deal with - including a set at Hong Kong's biggest music festival later this month - many fear the singer's comeback is driving him towards a relapse, writes Simon Parry.

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Published: 8:30pm, 18 Nov 2015Updated: 3:05pm, 15 Sep 2016

Pete Doherty (left) and Carl Barat, in Si Racha, Thailand, in October last year. Photos: Red Door News Hong Kong; Corbis

When he ambles on stage with his raffish grin to headline Hong Kong's Clockenflap festival on November 28, Pete Doherty's hour in the limelight will - on the face of it - represent a remarkable story of redemption.

A little more than a year ago, the 36-year-old British singer-songwriter was consuming enough heroin to kill himself. Then came a life-saving three-month stay at a coastal rehab clinic 160km outside Bangkok, Thailand.

Pete Doherty during his rehab in Thailand

Thanks to a mixture of methadone, yoga, exercise, therapy and willpower, Doherty slowly weaned himself off heroin. The site the clinic stands on is owned by a former Thai minister of transport, Dr Sribhumi Sukhanetr, who collects military memorabilia; it was inside a decommissioned Vietnam war-era plane that Sribhumi installed on the clinic's grounds that Doherty began writing new songs for his band The Libertines.

As the music took shape, members of his group - including co-frontman Carl Barat - flew out to join Doherty; in Thailand, they began recording their first new tracks in 11 years.

Subsequently, Doherty checked out of the clinic, and recruited one of its counsellors to help keep him clean.