On my trip prep for November, I am apparently already facing waitlistings for the leg BKK-Luang Prabang and the same for the leg Siem Reap - BKK, both with Bangkok Air. Are there other carriers?

No others that fly nonstop.

Quite unbelievable that so much is already booked solid for November. Four months ahead, for heaven's sake! I may be able to fiddle around a bit with the dates, though

cram-waitlists in Thailand don't necessarily indicate the flights are full. We were "waitlisted" BKK/Colombo for Dec 3 only because flight dates and times were yet to be finalised, for that period. Don't despair, yet. Keep talking to your agent and ask them to define "waitlist" with Bangkok Air. Good luck.

Thai flies Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, if you want to cover your bets. There's also a small Thai airline called PB Air that flies this route in the high season (although they may have dropped it).

you can fly on the national carriers to the capitals of each country and then onwards...

hotels are very tight in LP...i have a friend who is having a devil of a time getting rooms for LP at the end of january....do you have yours??

i can't resist also calling to peoples attention those posts which tell you to wait until you get to bkk to book your flights....sometimes that works but not here....BOOK AHEAD