Ids,
Two summers ago my brother did his referral in Phuket with Scuba Cat. We were referred to them by a friend of mine and we could not have been more happy with the experience, the diving, training and the instructors. My brother did his referral and AOW while I took Specialty courses for the Master Diver while on the MV Scuba Cat. It is a liveaboard (of sorts) anchord at Racha Yai. The equipment was very good, the food also good, the rooms not bad for thailand. The nice thing was you got to go diving a lot in such a short time period. I highly recommend this set-up in Thailand for newly certified divers.
Phuket Scuba Diving, Liveaboard MV Scubacat
Good luck and happy bubbles,
~Oldbear~