BronzeDragon said:
Oriental Adventures is out there for those who want to play oriental-style characters. So the option does exist.
I think general D&D should stay with its roots.
As Doc Klueless said, "Eastern Style" Monks have existed in D&D since 1978 (actually, a little bit before that in various house rules).
In Basic D&D, there was a class called the "Mystic" that was nothing but a thinly veiled 1st edition monk.
THe only three classes that have truly been with D&D from the beginning were Fighting Man, Magic-user, and Cleric. Everything else since has been an add-on, but it is not that important to this discussion.
If 3E Monks don't have a place in your campaign, that's cool. No one should be taking you to task here, or anyone else for that matter.
However, if a DM is aiming for a European Middle ages style campaign, then there should be no monks - there should technically also be no wizards as written, nor druids, rangers, bards, paladins, sorcerers, clerics, or dragons. All would be changed to some extent.
If a DM is planning a Dragonlance campaign, Monks would according to the original setting description, have a place in the background, but not a large one. The god Majere was the god of monks, and had "Eastern" Monk powers. However, there was almost no mention of Majere in any novels, not any modules. He was there I believe in 1st edition just to allow Monks in the campaign. Very little otherwise is said about his followers.
However, no DM should feel as if he or she should necessarily exclude any core class from a homebrew campaign, because as noted earlier, martial arts are not limited to Eastern arts. Any fantasy world can plausibly accomodate an order of beings with great physical powers attainted through spiritual and magical attunement. Even Faerun has the monks of Ilmater in its history, as well as enough gates and portals to allow Kara-Turan monks to wander far and wide across the world.
No world, from Dark Sun to Splljammer to Planescape to Forgotten Realms to Dragonlance, to the simplest home-brew skeleton campaign, has to be written to exclude a concept you want to include - ESPECIALLY if you think it would being fun and enjoyment to the game for you and your players.
Good Gaming, all!