This article presents the results of a comparative study of English essay writing strategiesused and difficulties encountered by 272 fourth-year English major students from differentbackgrounds in both high and low English proficiency groups, at the School ofHumanities, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. A questionnaire was usedto collect data. Percentage, Means, Standard Deviation and t-test were used for dataanalysis. The major findings are that between the high and low proficiency groups,significant differences at the 0.05 level occurred in all steps of the writing processwhen comparing English essay writing strategies used and difficulties encounteredin both organizing and writing in English. The same was true when comparing difficultiesencountered by students with different backgrounds; there were significant differencesat the 0.05 level in both organizing and writing essays in English. Gender had no effecton difficulties encountered.