You couldn't pay me to do this. I have, what I consider to be, a very healthy distrust of man's ability to control wild predators.
I have the same distrust you do. But I'd still want to go. My wife and I got to pet a 2 year old tiger during our honeymoon in Australia and it was amazing.
I do have 2 problems though.
1. I would like to learn Thai enough to read their "it has been X days since the we've had a tourist attacked" sign.
2. I was unaware there is 2nd reason to visit Thailand and I'm concerned my friends and relatives won't be either.
What, to tour the many, many sweatshops that cover the land?
I suspect he's referring to the child-sex trade.
I'd be worried about the possibility of my significant other waking up to find their genitalia had been swapped in their sleep.
"What the...lefty is on the right now! How and why could this happen?"
I was thinking more along the lines of the "Saw a woman on a train. She was really cute. I said, please don't get a boner, please don't get a boner, PLEASE don't get a boner, but unfortunately, she did." scenario. Thailand plays pretty fast and loose. 
I figured, but why go for the same thing? 
I just wanted to see how small the picture got if I quoted again.
That is just plain stupid.... let's see if we can make it shrink to a tiny dot.

Going back to the original thought of "you couldn't pay me enough to do this", I would not do it with a group of them behind me, way too many chances for something to get one of them riled up. One on one with a bunch of handlers standing by, and if I just watched the thing eat enough to make it sleepy, then maybe...