cheers
enjoy the great views and the sunsets

Even staying in a less expensive hotel is safe. It’s a nice place to visit on a vacation.

As a single tourist in Bangkok you will attract the attention of the street touts. You should ignore any of their questions and suggestions of places to visit and politely walk away. Always make your own arrangements via the hotel or with people you know and trust.

Koh Samet is a great place to visit for a few days, take the bus from the Eastern Bus Terminal at Ekkamai BTS and have loads of fun. It is a lovely beach and there are a range of hotels to choose from on Sai Kaew beach.
There are some quite expensive hotels on the island, if that is what you like, such as Le Vimarn but these are located away from the main beach and it may be too quiet for you.

Find somewhere on Sai Kaew beach that matches your budget and enjoy yourself.

don’t get drunk and go off with strangers, cover up a bit (shoulders to knees) , learn some local etiquette and follow normal city precautions.

If you take the same cautions you do in your own country you should be okay. I think Thailand is safer than many Western cities. There are women who only stay in cheap (no star) hostels and hotels and return year after year. There are hostels and hotels that are safe enough so you do not have to spend a lot for your hotel. My recommendation is to get a hotel on or near the Skytrain route so you can use that overhead rail service.

Here are some other travel forums where you can go into detail. For hotel recommendations mention your price range. Wait until you get to Thailand to change any money over to Thai baht, banks available at the airport 24 hours a day. Transportation from the airport is excellent if you arrive before midnight. After midnight you have to use the public taxi.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293915-i3686-Thailand.html
http://forum.virtualtourist.com/forum-1943-1-Travel-Thailand-1-forum.html
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forum.jspa?forumID=51

Good luck.

I know a long while back a British girl backpacking on her own went into a temple with caves on its land with one of the monks in Ratchaburi province. The end of the story was the monk raped and kiled her and buried her in the cave. Eventually people found the body and the police caught the monk who did it. He turned out to be an ex-convict free from doing time. The conclusion was a speedy trial and execution one month after the trial to please foreign interests at that time. For Thailand tourism means. That girls name was Joanne Masheder. You can google the story.