A Thai soldier guards the site of a bomb blast at a bus stop in Bangkok, Sunday, December 31, 2006. At least six bombs exploded, leaving two dead and 21 injured around the city
Irina Martin, a German tourist who was in Bangkok for the party-loving city's raucous New Year's Eve festivities, must be glad she listened to her gut. Around 9 p.m. on Dec. 31, the kindergarten teacher from Hamburg was grappling with the unnerving news that six bombs had detonated across the Thai capital just a couple of hours earlier, targeting everything from a shopping mall and a supermarket to a bus stop at Victory Monument, one of the city's busiest gathering places. Watching the police comb for evidence at Victory Monument, Martin changed her mind about attending the famous New Year's countdown...