are there flights? Could I go from chiang mai to LP and back to Bangkok -- thinking about my postoponed trip which I would do differently this time (substitute LP or Anantara)

You can fly from LP to Chiang Mai...we did it last year (some travelers opted to travel back to BKK and then onto LP....just to avoid traveling on the local airline....We thought that was a waste of time; especially since the aircraft was made by an American company....no problem at all on the flight)
Anyway, not sure whether the reverse is true, but I suspect so.

Hi, glorialf!

Last spring I traveled on Lao Airlines. Several days a week, they have a nonstop flight from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang.

The flight was about 1 hour or so, and was not remarkable in any negative sense.

I was able to use the Lao Airlines website (the real site, not the imposter site located in Paris) to send an email note to the company to make my reservation. The reservations office promptly responded, to my pleasant surprise.

Once in Chiang Mai, I had to physically and in person go to the Lao Airlines office to pick up the hardcopy ticket. They would not permit an agent to write the ticket.

Once in the Lao Airlines office I had to pay in cash in full in Thai baht (no credit card, no US dollars). The one-way fare cost, as I recollect the equivalent of about US $100 or so.

Do not go to the Lao Airlines office at the stroke of 9AM, as the employees do not open promptly. Also, do not go there at 12Noon, as the employees take a 2-hour lunch.

Enjoy the flight; it beats having to go through Bangkok for a connection.

how do I know the real from the fake website?

Gloria, I expect Eddie could get you tickets. While you can reserve seats on the real website, you can't buy them. Lao takes cash only.

You can get an e-ticket now on their site for many flights including CM/LP. Cost is $172 including taxes. A year ago it was under $125 so it has gone way up. It could be that Eddie can get it cheaper.

http://www.laoairlines.com/

We just used Eddie for our tickets from CM to Kunming...(Thanks to Fodorites' advice...).He was great and we have the tickets in hand.

The authentic website for Lao Airlines is the one that Scotters has posted. When you click on the Contact Us link, mostly Lao and nearby adddresses appear.

The counterfeit website, when you click on the Contact Us link, prominently displays a Rue de la Paix address in Paris.

just clicked on it and got a virus warning.

Funny. I just went on to check and had no problem. Maybe my virus warning is not as good as yours. I have used this site often with no ill effects.

It happened to me both at home and at work. At home it was just one virus-- at work it was two.