I have Mastercards in 4 different countries, all require a small deposit to activate the mastercard account. In Thailand it is usually 500 baht, other places is roughly 5-10 usd (or equivalent) so I definitely think mastercard has a little to do with it.
Master card might need a 500 baht deposit to activate the account, but it goes in your account. I didn’t pay a single cent to open an account in Bangkok bank