(Reuters) - Rocker Pete Doherty, ex-frontman for British band Babyshambles and a close friend of the late Amy Winehouse, has been asked to leave a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Thailand because he was "not ready to stop using," the clinic said.

"Pete was discharged today for therapeutic reasons," Alastair Mordey, director of The Cabin Chiang Mai clinic, said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

"When someone is not ready to stop using, it is important to maintain the integrity of the treatment program for the other clients to have a good chance of recovery," Mordey said.

He added that the parting was "amicable."

Doherty, 33, has been a fixture in British tabloids in recent years for his music career and high-profile relationships with model Kate Moss and friendship with Winehouse, who died suddenly last year after a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse.

Doherty has a history of drug and alcohol abuse. He rose to fame in the 2000s with The Libertines, which later disbanded. He went on to form Babyshambles.

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Stacey Joyce)