YALA, Thailand (AFP) - Televised claims of a ceasefire by separatist militants were derided Friday as a hoax in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, after a veteran insurgent leader disavowed the move.

A group called Ruam Pak Tai Khong Prathet Thai (Thailand's United Southern Underground group) made a videotaped announcement Thursday, broadcast on an army-run television station, declaring an end to the violence.

The declaration was greeted with widespread doubts among the Thai military, other insurgent leaders, and residents of the southern region along the Malaysian border who have suffered through four years of near-daily attacks.

Thailand's army commander General Anupong Paojinda said the military was surprised by the announcement, and an official statement later distanced the army further from the ex-army chief who had apparently negotiated the move.

General Chetta Thanacharo, also the former defence minister, claimed he had orchestrated a ceasefire.

"The royal Thai army has nothing to do with the announcement by the militant group on Thai television. It was carried out by a private person, General Chetta, who hopes for peace in the southern provinces," the statement said.

"The Thai army continue to adhere to a policy of non-violence and strict law enforcement to solve the problems in the south and to create justice along with development and security for local residents," it said.

Hours after Thursday's televised statement, leaflets written in Thai and Arabic began circulating the restive town of Yala, urging militants to continue their armed struggle and to ignore the ceasefire announcement.

Residents said they saw no reason to believe the declaration.

"I don't give any weight to yesterday's announcement. I closely monitor developments and I don't think it was genuine," said Ahmad Jaewae, 45, an Internet shop owner in Yala town.

"The real leader would speak from his heart, not from a script," he told AFP.

Torlab Sama-ali, 60, a rubber tapper in Yala, was also skeptical but said he hoped for official negotiations between the government and militants to stop the violence.

"If it's true it would be very welcome, as we are all suffering from the unrest -- and as Muslims we do not agree with violence," he said.

Paison, 28, who gave only one name, said the professed leaders were former militants who are no longer active.

"I am not convinced that a ceasefire would be agreed this easily without any concessions after all the many Muslims arrested over the years," he said.

The conflict has claimed 3,300 lives in the past four years and authorities have struggled to identify the militants, who rarely claim responsibility for attacks.

One veteran militant leader, Kasturi Mahkota, disavowed the statement, saying his group knew nothing about the militants who appeared on television.

"Nothing has changed and the dialogue with the Thai authorities is still in the pipeline," Kasturi, foreign affairs chief for the Patani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), told The Nation newspaper.

PULO emerged in 1968 and over the next two decades became the biggest insurgent group fighting in the mainly Muslim region along the southern border with Malaysia.

The group largely fell apart in the 1990s with most of their leaders living in exile. Past statements by PULO and Kasturi have had little effect on the fighting on the ground.

Analysts from local human rights organisation Working Group on Justice for Peace said the announcement could do more harm than good.

"The announcement was just a scene in a play. It not only contributes to the situation of unrest but will worsen the situation," the group said in a statement.

In their video, the militants said the ceasefire had taken effect from July 14. But attacks have continued to rattle the region since then, including bombings at two of the main police stations in the border provinces.

The region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until Thailand annexed it in 1902, provoking decades of tension.

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