In Burma, friends and relatives really touch and hold each other. It isn't in any way sexual - in fact it is beautiful and comforting and natural. You see it on the street - two guys going down the street, not just arm in arm, but each with an arm over the other's shoulder, and the other arms clasped - really interlocking. And you see it at home with family - everyone sprawled out on the floor, arms on one another's legs, hands on one another's knees. It felt very good.
There is an etiquette through it though. The most interesting element of which is that the "appropriate" or "touchable" parts of your body are basically the sides. The front centerline of your body, running from the neck down to the groin, is avoided. Outer thighs are in bounds and much touched. The personal boundary is vertical - the left and right sides of your body, along with your whole shoulderline.
Contrast this with the western division of the body into personal zones, which is horizontal - basically the waistline, or the neckline.
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