Yes, as long as the thiol is soluble in water you should be able to form well structured monolayers. I have used mercaptoethanol in 20mM aqueous solution on brass with good results after treatment with 1M acetic acid.
Yes, I have seen already papers with thiols disperded in water and then deposited on metal surfaces. However, I think it could depend critically on the type of thiol you use. Then it is also possible that you could not obtain well organized SAMs because it seems that good solvents are needed for that.