One of the threads on here had the bcb official say that some of the players were complaining of staying for longer than a week in Pakistan due to being confined to the hotel.
Another thread had the SL chief complaining about being locked up in the hotel.
You had mentioned that doing all this does not feel like a safe environment to the players. The players themselves mentioned it actually makes them feel safe. Being confined to a hotel and wanting to go out is not the same as not feeling safe.
Yes if a touring side come to Pakistan, then they would want this level of security due to the current climate in Pakistan. However, most teams would ideally like a 'normal' environment to tour in, with 'normal'security. They would like to go to restaurants and shopping malls and bazaars etc. The SL team did go to a shopping mall but i expect they were escorted by a heavy security prescence.
Furthermore, my cousins own shops in the shopping precinct close to gadaffi stadium and are forced to close their shops when an international or psl game.is on, costing them losses in lakhs of rupees, with no compensation!
It's either this or no cricket in Pakistan, so the option is clear for the PCB. The residual effect of the 2009 attacks on the SL team means teams will ask for this if they tour Pakistan.