A thermal head includes a metal substrate; an insulating layer (3) formed on the surface of the metal substrate (1); a plurality of heating elements (14,24) disposed on the surface of the insulating layer (3), the heating elements (14,24) being arranged with a predetermined pitch along a plurality of lines in a main scanning direction, the plurality of lines being spaced from each other in a paper feeding direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction; and a heat radiating element (2) projecting from the surface of the metal substrate (1) to the side where the insulating layer is disposed. In this structure, although most of heat generated by the respective heating elements is transferred to an ink ribbon or print paper, residual partial heat is absorbed by heat radiating means via the insulating layer and radiated into the atmosphere. This suppresses thermal interference among the heating elements. The invention also discloses a thermal head controller for controlling a thermal head for use in a printer.