HONG KONG • One-Armed Swordsman star Jimmy Wang Yu was reported to be in intensive care in Thailand after suffering a stroke.

Oriental Daily News said the 72-year-old Taiwanese star was alone when he fainted at a Bangkok airport and was sent to hospital.

Citing reliable sources, it said he underwent two emergency brain surgeries.

Doctors diagnosed him as having acute haemorrhagic stroke and advised against him being taken home as he was still not out of danger, it added.

According to the Oriental Press website, his eldest daughter, Linda Wong, confirmed Wang's stroke diagnosis, but she said his condition had improved a lot.

The singer, who was back in Hong Kong after having flown to his side, said she and her two sisters were taking turns to visit their father, and Wang's friends, including those in Thailand, had rallied to help.

She told Apple Daily that her father was hospitalised last month and had "two, three surgeries", which were all minor.

She said Wang, who was in Thailand for official business, had left immigration control when he fainted.

She did not divulge much beyond saying that he was conscious and eating and that she planned to fly him home to Taiwan for further medical treatment.

Airport staff reportedly identified Wang after checking his luggage and contacted his family.

Wang gained fame as an action superstar after starring in Shaw Brothers' One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and added film directing to his acting credits before retiring in the 1990s.

He suffered a mild stroke in 2011 in China and underwent therapy to regain mobility of his left arm. Still, he continued to travel for business and later returned to films.

He won Golden Horse acting nominations for his role in Wu Xia (2011) and Soul (2013) and took a Best Actor prize for Soul at the Taipei Film Awards.

His three daughters are from his marriage to the late actress Jeanette Lin Tsui, which ended in divorce in 1975.