Driving to Chiang Mai

Road in Thailand are very dangerous, and death toll very high, I do not advice you to drive here if you never did it before for a so long trip.

I am not sure about vehicle in Laos, but it seem they are LHD.

To bring your vehicle also you will need an insurance covering you in Thailand and get paper for your car, lot of hassle.

I am in Chiang Mai for many years and never see foreign plates vehicle driving here.

Better you rent a vehicule once in Chiang Mai, or use Taxi service, keep yourself safe and your vehicle safe at home too ( don't think there are dealers for this brand in Chiang Mai as not so so common here, I have seen it once in Chiang Mai and it was a vehicle with embassy plate )

Not advisable
Having driven a left hand drive vehicle in Thailand when coming across border from Laos, I would not recommend it all. Really dangerous trying to see oncoming traffic when attempting to pass.
Paperwork and insurance needed to cross the border from Laos.

Consider driving to the border in Laos then as mentioned by ccthierrymik, catch alternative transport from Luang Prabang. Flying perhaps.

I have all the paper work. I regularly drive in and out of Laos to Thailand but usually only to Udon Thani, so the roads are much better than what we have here in Vientiane. Longest drive we did was from Vientiane to Bangkok, and again the roads were excellent as it is flat all the way. My main concern was that Chiang Mai has a lot of mountains and windy roads, I have taken the bus a couple of times but never directly from Vientiane...

Actually need my car to fill up with things to bring home. More than likely we'll stick to the original plan and head to Pattaya for the holidays. Seems a safer choice for driving.

Good choice.

Of course you can. You are not stupid to drive like crazy, right? ROad from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is recently renovated, i drove Bangkok- chiang mai in 6 hours. There were 2 or 3 spots where road is small cause they put together both sides, fixing road on other side.
It is safe to drive if you are careful. If you are crazy, nothing can help.

Hi.
If you drive sensibly, and I find that most women do, then I don't see any reason for you not to attempt the journey. In fact you may even enjoy it and make the journey an event rather than a chore.
You're  young and life is about adventure!! When I was 24 I drove from Leeds to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. It was eventful but memorable and I never regretted it. I drove through the Kaiser Pass in Afghanistan which was a little more hairy than The roads in Thailand! Just do it!!!

That's Khyber Pass!