In Mac OS X 10.6.8 with iPhoto 9.2.3, the places feature does not work properly.

The maps are not working any longer in any iPhoto version older than iPhoto 9.4.5.

The problem is, that the older versions are using Google maps, and the servers for these maps are no longer available in iPhoto. Try to upgrade to MacOS X 10.11 El Capitan with iPhoto 9.6.1, if you want to use iPhoto with maps. The newer iphoto versions are using Apple's own map server, and that is still working.

Updating to iPhoto 9.6.1 is not easy, now that Apple stopped selling iPhoto from the AppStore.

If you want to update, see Barney's user tip:

Get iPhoto 9.6.1 if you didn't update before OS X 10.10.3

Apple is now developing the new Photos.app instead of iPhoto, and that does support maps, but requires to update to MacOS X 10.103 or later.