A thermal printer and a printing method are provided. The thermal printer includes a thermal printhead for applying a predetermined amount of heat to a thermal recording paper to develop a print layer provided on the thermal recording paper; a feeding roller for feeding the thermal recording paper, a platen roller for facing the thermal printhead to support the thermal recording paper, wherein the thermal recording paper passes between the thermal printhead and the platen roller, a first encoder sensor for detecting a rotation of the platen roller, a second encoder sensor for detecting rotation of the feeding roller; a counting unit for counting first and second pulse signals generated from the first and second encoder sensors, respectively, and a switching unit of the first and second pulse signals as a variable to control the feeding of the thermal recording paper.