Luxury Livaboard in Thailand?

Hi all. There seem to be so many livaboard boats in Thailand. Any recommendations for the best one? Also, do any of these liveaboards dock somewhere other than where they board? It seems if I am going to travel so far, it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone and be dropped off in some new location, and avoid a later flight getting to Vietnam or Burma or Borneo.
Thanks so much for any advice!

Yes, there are a lot of liveaboards in Thailand, but "best" is a relative term. Your post title says you are looking for a luxury liveaboard, so I'm guessing you will want a private head, air conditioned cabin, Nitrox, and fairly few passengers aboard--is that right? Many of the up-market boats also have extended trip lengths; how long a trip are you looking for?

By and large boats embark and disembark passengers at the same port. A few trips embark at one port and disembark at a different port if they are changing itineraries, but typically in these few cases they will embark/disembark at relatively nearby ports, such as embark at Tap Lamu in Thailand and disembark at Ranong, also in Thailand, or embark at Tap Lamu and disembark at Phuket, or vice-versa. Trips embarking in one country and disembarking in another country are very uncommon, particularly since they would only be available when the boat was moving from one itinerary to another--for example, between Thailand at the end of the season and Indonesia or Malaysia at the beginning of a new season. The routings are not especially conducive to good diving and the captains are on a schedule, so taking passengers along is not normal.

Thanks so much. That is very helpful. You have the right idea about the kind of trip. This will be for an anniversary and we wanted to do something very special, with wonderful, interesting diving. If you have any recommendations, we would be very grateful.

My personal favorite is The Junk (SY June Chong Hian Lee) -she is stunning - The Junk.

bamizell, I try not to recommend particular boats in the public forum exactly because what is perfect for one diver may disappoint another one. There are a number of boats that might meet your needs for a wonderful anniversary trip, once we determine exactly what your criteria are! I wouldn't be able to pick just one boat to tell you about. Drop me a PM and I'll send you direct links to the boat operators' websites for the boats that you find interesting.