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First – if you haven't read TreantMonk's guide to monks, you may want to do so.. assuming you have some experience in the game. Its older but it provides a generally good guide on how to build a workable standard monk with fair damage output. It also expresses some of the limitations of the Monk... being that while the Monk build provided there has good damage output and combat options, he might get beat to hell.

This discussion can best be split into three parts:
-Introduction
-The Challenges of the Monk Class
-Why Unchained Monk Doesn't improve upon these
-Interesting Monk builds that may provide a more “playable” Monk

Introduction:
If you aren't aware – the standard Monk in Pathfinder is not considered a top-tier class, and is instead considered by some to be among the lowest-tiered/least-playable classes available in the Pathfinder rule-sets. I was not aware of this, which is why when Pathfinder Unchained revealed the Unchained Monk, I responded with general confusion and began contentious debates with friends that I game with.
I've been playing Pathfinder and it's predecessors for probably 13 years, and have DM'd for about 8 of those years. I like to do the math and statistics behind the classes and consider myself to be somewhat knowledgeable about the game. As well, I have a preference for Martial Characters, and I often compare them statistically. I've always thought that, on paper, the Monk looks good. I've made spreadsheets with calculations of average damage output and ACs for Monks, Fighters, and Barbarians, and the Monk stacks up, even having higher damage output in some circumstances. Furthermore, I've had players who've played Monks in pathfinder, and never noted them being terrible – so when Unchained Monk was released, this sentiment surprised me.
Because of all that, when I heard the basic Monk wasn't good enough, I started trying to determine why. I can say now that I understand... and I don't think Unchained Monk made a more playable class.

The Challenges of the Monk Class:
To cut to the chase – the issue the Monk class faces comes down to item access. While the monk is capable of high-damage, and it is capable of high AC, it cannot afford both throughout most played levels. Because it cannot wear armor, it cannot increase its AC cheaply (magic items only), and is forced to make original stat investments in AC to attain even moderate AC, but thereby sacrifices damage and HP (resulting in the heavily multi-ability dependent [MAD] class that is the Monk). Now – there is something to be said here about understanding the role of the monk. While it is a class essentially relegated to melee, it's not necessarily intended to be a tank character or DPS. In fact, of all the classes, the thing it easily does better than the others is to wipe its genitals on casters and spell-users and then headbutt them in the chest. But casters do not make up a majority of encounters, and are often used as bosses in adventures. So the rest of the time, you want a character that isn't just waiting for it's time to shine, right?
Right. So – as a melee player, you want to be able to deal damage. You can do this with a monk, but if you do – you have to favor strength and neglect or decrease investment in the necessary AC stats resulting in low AC that you can only increase slowly due to its high cost compared to classes that can access non-magical AC equipment. As an example – lets look at a Monk and pretty much any other melee class using a 20 point buy:

Class 'Other':
Str:18 (10pts, +2 racial) Dex:10 Con:16 (10pts) Int:10 Wis:10 Cha:10

Monk:
Str:18 (10pts, +2 racial) Dex:10 Con:16 (10pts) Int:10 Wis:10 Cha:10

Now, this leads to a character with good hitpoints and good damage/attack. Under these conditions, at the lower-levels, a monk will likely be doing slightly more damage than “Other” (more attacks) and have slightly less hitpoints (d8), but both characters have generally good damage and hp. As they progress - with 1500 gp, “Other” can buy up to 9 AC with full plate. With that same 1500 gp – a Monk's only option is +1 Bracers to give him, in this example, 11 AC (12 with Dodge). The result is a character that is hit by everything and the only thing between the Monk and death is a stunted hitpoint pool (d8) and the relatively high Con score won't matter. Clearly, building a monk this way is not a good idea, and a more viable monk will need to spread out its stats to get AC.
Let me reiterate that though – in case I didn't put enough emphasis on that: with roughly the same money – a monk can buy +1 to AC, while other melee classes can buy up to +9 AC. Did you say: “What!? That's a huge difference!” Yes it is a huge difference, particularly at low levels.
At higher-levels (let's use level 12), class “Other” can spend around 52k to get +5 fullplate and a +5 shield for +21 AC (total 31). A Monk can spend around the same (57k) to get +4 Dex belt (16k gp, +2 AC), a +4 Wisdom hat (16k gp, +2 AC), +5 Bracers (25k gp, +5 AC), and has a natural Monk bonus of +3 AC for a total of 57k gp spent for +12 AC (+16 AC with a ki point). Of course, this analysis is excluding how class “Other” can also buy the Dex Bonus, or that any class with a +5 shield has also probably invested feats into shield use giving it even higher AC.
The point here is that the Monk still has to pay more for comparable AC at higher levels and if it doesn't, having high Con won't matter because everything will hit it and the resulting character, though capable, will always feel likes its going to die, and sometimes will. And let's be honest – at our example level of 12, an AC of 31 (“Other”) or 26 (Monk), is not good. And to make it worse, our Monk had to expend its coveted extra attack to get that AC to 26.
So what if a Monk has to pay more for AC? Is that really that big of a deal? For class “Other”, the player can expect to be able to achieve that +21AC and then have decent money left over to buy additional AC items and still have money left over for weapons. Not so for the Monk. Not only will the monk be investing more for less in terms of AC, but if building for unarmed, then you both loses access to the Amulet of Natural Armor as an AC item and have a higher price barrier to purchase Mighty Fists because it costs the same as buying two +X weapons. The cost of the Mighty Fists Amulet is by no means unreasonable, it simply has a high cost steps in between bonuses with no options for masterwork.
So this puts a monk in a difficult balancing act - the only way for it to not get hit by just about every attack (excluding caster's touch attacks) is to invest original stats in Dex or Wisdom, and sacrifice either Str or Con – the latter of which means that when it does get hit it'll hurt more. In sacrificing Str, the monk reduces its damage potential and hit rate (unless it goes with a high-dex Weapon Finesse build). And that's only at stat allocation – the real challenges for the Monk arise when it tries to equip itself because the majority of its options for improving its melee abilities, particularly defense, are more expensive than the equipment available to other melee classes.
In summary – the challenge of the Monk primarily comes down to its equipment options, which are far more expensive for similar bonuses and force Monks to spread out their stats to make a more survivable melee character.

Why Unchained Monk doesn't improve this:
Very simple – Unchained Monk has the exact same access to items, and thus the exact same problem when it comes equipping him. While Unchained Monk is, without doubt, an improvement to the offensive versatility of the Monk, its actual survivability and damage output are only slightly better at best. It gets a d10 instead of a d8, but on average this is equivalent to having Toughness, which is not considered a particularly good feat.
Its offensive melee options are undeniably better, in the least having a +2 higher attack bonus on Flurries, and more of them at the full bonus. But, since it still has to play the equipment game the same way, the only increase to it damage output will be due to its higher hit rate.
On the downside, Unmonk takes a sacrifice to Will save (poor instead of good) – weakening the Mage-killer capacity; it makes the Spell Resistance an option which isn't an “always-on” like before – again weakening the Mage-killer capacity and making it more susceptible in the surprise round; and makes the ki bonus to AC an option that isn't available until 7th level (effectively 8th since you can't choose a ki power at 7th) – which limits its defensive options for at least 4 levels between 4 and 8. That last one is a Big One because those are levels during which the price of AC items available to the Monk is very impactful due to the relative lack of available money.

So the Unchained Monk isn't necessarily better in general than the regular Monk, and because it faces the same equipment options, the resulting character is still forced to be very “MAD”.

How to Build a More playable Monk (Includes materials up to ACG, not Occult or Intrigue):
Finally, the fun part! As mentioned before, TreantMonk's Monk guide provides a decent standard Monk build, but here I'll go into how to build decent Monks that use the expanded materials since provided. It seems to me that, particularly in Ultimate Combat, the developers began to understand what made the Monk difficult and provided alternatives to deal with it.
First, I'll start by letting you know that in general I'm going to be promoting Dex-based Monk builds. This is because this build allows us to use Weapon Finesse and/or Agile Maneuvers to consolidate the stat needs of the monk and use Dex for hit rate and AC. It results in a Monk that deals less damage, but there are some ways around this. There are also a few archetypes where I will not advocate this. To get us started, consider these stat layouts using the point buy system:
(Note: All builds assume a racial +2 to Dex. If you are given a 10-pt buy, I don't know that I'd recommend playing a monk, but you can give it a shot)
10-pt: Str 12(2pt); Dex 16(5pt); Con 12(2pt); Int 8(-2pt); Wis 14(5pt); Cha 8(-2pt)
15-pt: Str 12(2pt); Dex 17(7pt); Con 14(5pt); Int 8(-2pt); Wis 14(5pt); Cha 8(-2pt)
20-pt: Str 12(2pt); Dex 18(10pt); Con 14(5pt); Int 10(0pt); Wis 14(5pt); Cha 8(-2pt)
25-pt: Str 13(3pt); Dex 19(13pt); Con 14(5pt); Int 10(0pt); Wis 14(5pt); Cha 9(-1pt)

In these builds I've chosen to not completely tank the less necessary Int and Cha stats, because they make one more susceptible to stat reduction, and because not everyone likes the idea of a dumber or less likeable character. Unfortunately, there's just less justification for a Monk to have Charisma, than Int, since Int gives skills which a Monk can always take advantage of. I also have not given the Monk the 13 Str needed for Power Attack in most of these, but in all build but the 10-pt, one can trade Str for Con and get it, while in the 10-pt build you can buy 1 strength at 4th level and get access by level 5. Finally, I did not elect to buy a straight 18 Dex in any build because the 4pts needed to go from 17 to 18 are of greater value elsewhere for the MAD Monk, and the gap can be filled at Level 4.

For Races, I've assumed a situation where a +2 is going to Dex. While this optimizes the attack of the Dex-based monk, it may not be optimal for all builds and other races such as Dwarf provide good advantages. One race I will strongly urge you to consider is Halfling.
Why Halfling? Three reasons – first, being small gives you an immediate +1 att/AC; second, you get the +2 Dex and the +2 Cha means you can tank Charisma and still have a decent Charisma while using the +4 stat points elsewhere (like Strength); third, and most important, you'll get access to Risky Striker which will allow you to trade out AC instead of Hit Rate to gain damage against enemies 2 sizes larger than you. Large and larger enemies make up a big *heh* portion of the monsters in the Monster Manuals, but if you're fighting a lot of Mediums, drink a potion of reduce person. Sure, you're weapon damage will be one step smaller, but in many cases this results in 1-2 average damage reduction which is more than made-up for by access to Risky Striker. Also note – ARG gives an option for Halflings to trade out their skill racial bonus for 30ft movement.
Other races that can provide interesting characters while keeping a +2 to Dex include Hobgoblin, Sylvan, Grippli (not preferred over Halfling for small), Dhampir (to build a grappling, blood sucking monk), and Tiefling, as well as some others. It's important to take into account how the Monk can take advantage of racial abilities. The +2 Wisdom of the Dwarf, for instance, allows the Monk to either reinvest original stat points, or have a higher Wisdom for the same AC (no +2 Dex) and better Stun.

How about feats? You may note that non of my stat-builds give you Int high enough to get Combat Expertise and its feat-tree. There are two reason for this – one is that if you have access to Combat Stamina then you should be taking it and then can get Combat Expertise anyway; the other is that the Monk doesn't really need it. You can get Improved Trip or Improved Disarm for free after level 6, and while Greater is a good thing for Trip (Greater Disarm isn't really that great and Disarm in general is much less useable) it's not necessary to be able to Trip. At level 11 you can take Perfect Strike and then roll twice and take higher for a trip with your Kama which more than makes up for the lost +2 bonus of not having Greater Trip.
For feat selection, there are now soo many feats, that I won't go into rating them; but, I will give some general discussion and point out some of my favorites. I'm not going into the free feats available to Monk, but I will note that out of the list I consider Dodge and Medusa's Wrath (level 10) to be necessary. Particularly because Medusa's Wrath will be usable anytime you get Stunning Fist to work. Since you don't need the prerequisites for Medusa's Wrath, this is probably the best mechanic available to the Monk for damage output. The non-free feats include:
- Weapon Finesse: Necessary for the Dex Build. A must at 1st level.
- Combat Stamina: If you have access to this, take it at Level 3. If nothing else, it gives you the ability to declare a Stunning Fist after your attack hits, rather than wasting your one per turn on a missed attack
- Agile Maneuvers: If you want to take free grapple, then you'll probably want this feat
- Style Feats: There are a lot of good options, however, if you use a Dex-build, then 1-2 feats (3 with Combat Stamina) are already taken, so you'll likely get later access and possibly not get all the way through the tree. Still – Mantis Style gives bonuses to Stunning Fist that will help you Wrath more often; Crane Style gives some good Damage mitigation; Panther style helps you take advantage of your high movement – but may not always work if the DM decides the enemy is smart enough to just not attack you; and Tiger and Dragon Styles give you enhanced damage options. However, both Tiger and Dragon style are probably inferior to the damage capability added by the Pummeling and Jabbing Styles in the ACG. See below regarding Shaitan Style.
- Perfect Strike: If you want to be good at tripping, take this feat at level 11
- Greater Grapple/Rapid Grappler: If you're going for a Grapple build, this is a given; however, if you took Combat Stamina, you may not need Rapid Grappler, which is the only reason I'm mentioning this here
- Touch of Serenity: Though not accessible to a standard monk until 11th level, if you build one with a Wisdom high enough to take it, it gives you a Will Save option strike for those pesky high Fort Save enemies
- Shaitan Style: I put this one separate from the general style discussion because it is not attainable for a standard (non-archetyped) monk using a Dex-build, unless you wait to start the tree until after level 13 (picking up elemental fist at level 11. However, it is powerful because it gives you a reflex save attached to your elemental fist that staggers and allows you to use Medusa's Wrath. The reason you can't get it with Dex is because to get it you have to dip into Dragon Style for two feats at level 3 and 5 (15 Str prereq), pick up elemental fist (acid) at level 7, and then go two feats into Shaitan at 9 and 11 (15 Con, 15 Wis), but the stat requirement is too high to invest heavy into Dex. To get it, you'll also probably want to be a race the gives bonus to two of those three stats. Of course, you can just take go Monk of the Four Winds, and have much easier access.

The last thing I'll talk about is Archetypes. Primarily, I want to provide a little bit of discussion on the Archetypes I've identified that fix the “challenge of the monk” I outlined before. These result in what I think many will find to be more playable Monks, albeit they are enough of a departure from the Standard Monk that you may just consider playing the Unmonk. These, however, keep high Will Save, and may actually be more playable than the Unmonk.

- First, the Sensei: Yes, the Sensei loses Flurry of Blows, but if you build around Stuns and Grappling, it doesn't matter. Key to this Archetype is that at level 2 you can begin using your Wisdom to replace attack and CMB. This is important because it allows you to consolidate the stat needs of the Monk and results in a less MAD character. The Advice ability gives you a mostly gauranteed increase to attack and damage that make up for some of your inability to buy items that help you there. Granted, if you have a Bard in the party, the bard will be better at this and this archetype may not be useful, but otherwise you'll benefit yourself by “taking your own advice” (a bard benefits from their bonus, so do you) and be a boon for the rest of the party. Furthermore, since Wisdom will be your primary stat, you can make your stun DC amazing. You get a feat back from Weapon Finesse, so go into Crane Style, take Greater Grapple, trip if you want, and you have a decent character that can still benefit from Medusa's Wrath.
- Second, the Martial Artist: This archetype gets rid of your Ki pool and associated abilities and replaces it with an ability that has unlimited uses. That said, it has both advantages and disadvantages that I'll discuss in a moment. The key reason I've pointed to it is because it allows you to access the Weapon Specialization tree with your fists, which makes up for some of the damage gap between you and other classes that are free to invest fully in strength. While the class removes your immunity to Disease and Poison, you get an ability in return which I haven't seen in any other class – ability reduction resistance. When you first get this ability at level 7 some scary ability attacks like the Wounding weapon ability or Deadly Stroke's Con bleed are immediately negated; while at later levels poison's and diseases won't do enough damage to hurt much anyway.
Now as for the replacement ability to the Ki pool, its disadvantages include loss of your extra attack, jump, ki strike, AC bonus, extra speed, and later dimension door/etherealness, and hurts a little. Additionally, the ability which replaces it will not work 100 % of the time. Because CR will be scaling with your level, you'll usually have around the same chance of it working – being 50% or better depending on your Wisdom. However, this can also be an advantage if your DM is willing to let you know when the ability works or not because, assuming you end up with a +4 bonus to Wisdom, you'll know that if you roll an 11 and you don't identify their weakness, then it's of a CR of at least 4 greater than your level and there's a good chance of party wipe. Time to tell the others to run like hell. The additional advantages when it does work include being able to ignore any damage reduction of any kind, which can be very powerful, and getting a +2 to attack against that enemy which means the attacks you do get will hit more. Furthermore, having the ability to ignore hardness means that at a very early level you can begin to Sunder the hell out of everything (at level 4 you'll easily overcome the DC for wooden hafts of 15, by level 8 or so you'll be reliably destroying iron or steel). Lastly, the AC bonus will not be as good in the beginning, and will only work against a single enemy instead of a group, but later it becomes significantly better (up to +10 instead of +4).
This archetype results in a character with more damage output who is generally better at taking on a single hard enemy than other monks, and maybe better than some of the other melee classes in general.
- Last, and possibly the best of them, the Sohei: “Well this is an Archetype for mounted combat, so what?” Yes, you get mounted combat feats for free, but the other things you get are Baller. You don't get full fist damage, but it's more than made up for by access to Fighter Weapon Training, the ability flurry with anything in the Weapon Groups, and the ability to make any weapon magic. The any weapon magic part, in particular, allows you to either invest more money in AC or have a better magic weapon than others can afford which makes up for your lower AC or damage. At low levels, you have the ability to wear light armor which gives you some options for cheap AC increases and allows you to neglect Wisdom a little bit.
But I'll reiterate – you can flurry with anything in the Weapon Groups! Wanna flurry with a Halberd? Do it. Wanna flurry with a bow? Do it. Yes – the Zen Archer can flurry with a bow and gets fist damage with a bow, but the Zen Archer does not get to make a +5 bow (+3 with +2 in special abilities) for the price of a +3. This plus the fighter weapon group with access to the duelists gloves means that the Sohei Archer is actually capable of more damage than the Zen Archer with a bow (though it may not be a better general archer). Furthermore, the Zen Archer specifically states it cannot flurry and use Manyshot or Rapid Shot. No such restriction is placed on the Sohei.
Because you get low level AC items (at high levels, going with a Wisdom hat and Bracers will result in a higher AC than +5 Chain shirt) you're free to reinvest some of those stat points into Strength. The result is a less MAD character with enhanced equipment options and the ability to make any item it has Magic. The Mounted Combat feats and Mount-Saving abilities just become a neat trick you can do when needed.
(Note: If you want to be a “polearm flurrier”, I would not recommend being Dex-based. I would recommend taking Lunge.)