By Jocelyn Gecker 

ABOARD THAI AIRWAY TO LOS ANGELES  (AP) — John Mark Karr, the suspect in the death of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, sipped champagne and ate fried king prawns in business class Sunday after being put aboard a flight to Los Angeles to face charges in the United States.

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As Karr wined and dined in style and chatted with the three U.S. officials escorting him, another bombshell emerged: Reports that Karr sought treatment at a Thai sex-change clinic.

 Karr, who was not charged with any crime in Thailand, was being expelled because he is regarded as an undesirable person. He was not being extradited.

His Thai Airways International flight took off about 8 p.m. (9 a.m. EDT) for the 15-hour flight to Los Angeles. Karr's journey will eventually end in Boulder, Colo., where he is expected to face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and child sexual assault in connection with the young beauty queen's 1996 killing.

Thai police whisked Karr into the immigration and customs zone at Don Muang International Airport from an immigration jail in Bangkok. At the departure gate, he talked amiably with fellow passengers. He was not handcuffed.

On the plane, the 41-year-old teacher sat in a business class window seat next to Mark Spray, an investigator with the Boulder District Attorney's office. A U.S. Embassy official and an agent with "Homeland Security" on his T-shirt were also part of the escort party.

Before takeoff, Karr took a glass of champagne from a flight attendant and clinked glasses with Spray, who sipped orange juice.

Dinner on board, served on a starched white tablecloth, was one many passengers would envy. Karr started with a pate, then had a green salad with walnut dressing. The main course was fried king prawn with steamed rice and broccoli. Karr drank a beer, crushing the can with his hands when it was empty, then moved on to a glass of French chardonnay with his main course.

The suspect was relaxed, smiling and chatting nonstop with the U.S. officials next to him — until the television news crews on the flight turned their cameras on. Then he stopped smiling, clutched the armrests of his seat and stared at his lap.

Karr did not speak to reporters, but at one point summoned an AP reporter over to his seat. He mentioned an interview she had given, recalling that someone asked her what he was like.

"You said I looked you straight in the eye when I talked to you and I want to tell you I appreciate that, I thought it was nice," Karr told the AP reporter.

Just hours before Karr's departure, a doctor at a seedy but popular clinic in downtown Bangkok specializing in sex-change surgery said Karr had come in for treatment.

"He was one of my patients," Dr. Thep Vechavisit of the Pratunam Polyclinic said. He refused to provide further details.

Another employee at the clinic, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media, said Karr had talked with the doctor about a sex-change operation. This could not be confirmed by other sources.

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