Welcome Goodguinness!! Love to see a girl pick a user name like that!! I am not sure I can give you a ton of advice, but I have been to Thailand a bunch of times. I have to say that I haven't heard much about surfing in Thailand. A lot of diving, though. If you were to surf, I suspect you would have to stick to the West coast of Thailand (and the islands on that side). The east coast and islands off the east coast are in the Gulf of Thailand and so the sea is generally fairly calm. The west coast, being on the Andaman Sea (basically open ocean), gets much more wave action. I would suggest checking out a few guide books to see what they say. As for social hostels, all the hostel in Bangkok are rather social!! Stick to something around Khao San Rd and you will be fine, there are hundreds of guest houses and hostels for cheap money. The islands too, for that matter. Enjoy your trip, Thailand is a fantastic place.