Many beautiful old buildings dating back to the reigns of King Rama V and VI have survived on both sides of Mangkorn Road. Worthy of special mention is Kocha Itsahak Mosque. It was commissioned by Luang Kocha Itsahak (Kerd Bin Abdullah), the son of a Sai Buri merchant who had risen to become a midlevel official in the Krom Tha Khwa (the government department which supervised commerce with foreign countries). A Malay speaker, his everyday duties included acting as an interpreter for foreign ambassadors who visited the royal court in Bangkok. He was also responsible for dealing with the rulers of Siam’s tributary states in the Malay Peninsula and with Muslim merchants who wished to conduct trade with Siam. The lack of a mosque in Sampheng created difficulties for foreign traders who were followers of Islam. So Luang Kocha gifted a 2 rai plot of his own land as a site for this place of worship and ordered his children and grandchildren to bring bricks and stones for its construction from an old building he owned on the Thon Buri side of the river. The mosque was built in a European style which was popular at that time.