Which happens exactly never in most campaigns. And anyway, if you're stuck in AMF jail you're going to be happy with the rogue, because monks can't pick locks (and rogues deal more damage thanks to sneak attacks).
Yeah, that's what it looks like on paper. Turns out that in practice, they are completely ineffective against casters. Aside from the existence of no-save no-SR spells, note that being able to survive stuff isn't useful unless you can also do something against your enemy.I always figured that monks were the best class against casters actually.
The problem with grappling is that it's an ineffective tactic. The problem with grappling monks is that any full-BAB melee character makes a better grappler.Also although they have lower BAB and STR if they do enter a grapple they will really wail on you.
Permanent enlarge is (1) inconvenient in any town or city, (2) very inconvenient in any dungeon, and (3) taken down by a single Dispel Magic. That makes it a waste of money in actual play.Especially if you use a permenant enlarge person
Overall, monks make for an excellent n00b filter: they have all sorts of things that look nice in the player's handbook, and are nigh useless in actual gameplay.